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LECTURES ON 



Natural T 



ATURAL IHEOLOGY. 



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LECTURES 



Natural Theology; 



OR, 



Nature and the Bible from the same Author. 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



LOWELL INSTITUTE, BOSTON. 



p: a: chadbourne, a.m., m.d., 

w 
Professor of Natural History ht Williavts College; Author of Lectures on 
the ^''Relations of Natural History^'' etc. 




NEW YORK : 

G. p. PUTNAM & SON, 66i BROADWAY. 

1867. 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 

G. P. PUTNAM & SON, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
District of New York. 



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!/ 

The New York Printing Company, 

Si, 83, and 85 Centre Street, 

New York. 



L ^ A. K 



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To 



REV. MARK HOPKINS, DD., LL.D., 

PRESIDENT OF WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 

Sir — It is not as a mere formality, nor from a desire to connect my name with 
one so distinguished in the higher departments of Philo"sophy, that I inscribe these 
Lectures to you. It is especially fitting that I should now acknowledge my indebt- 
edness to you for that kindness which is the most pleasant remembrance of my 
student life, and which has remained unchanged through all the relations of fifteen 
years of official labor. It was at your suggestion, that I first commenced a distinct 
work on Natural Theology. It has taken its present form in the moments snatched 
from the varied duties that have daily demanded my time and strength. And 
whatever may now be its value depends much upon the counsel and encourage- 
ment which you have given me during the whole course of its preparation. 

With great respect and esteem, 

I am most truly yours, 

P. A. CHADBOURNE. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Lectures are published in the form and order 
in which they were originally delivered. Nothing 
would be gained for the general reader by dividing 
them into chapters. For the convenience of 
students and teachers a very full Table of Contents 
has been prepared, which will materially aid the 
teacher in recitation, and render frequent reviews 
easy for the student. It is hoped that while the 
Lectures present the great outlines of Natural 
Theology in a form easily understood by all, they 
will also awaken in the student a love for the study 
of Nature, and lead him on to independent obser- 
vation in this most profitable field of human 
thought. 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

PAGE 

Man's Origin and Destiny. — Questions presented for study. — Effect of super- 
stition — Religious nature. — The great questions in reference to man. — Man 
naturally seeks to know if there is a God. — Sufficiency of the proof of His 
existence. — Theory of our case. — Answers that have been given from nature. 
Tlie Bible. — It must stand the tests of science. — Natural Religion defined. — 
Design of the Lowell Lectures. — Our situation in this world like that of 
children in a palace. — Knowledge of Religion which men can obtain from 
nature alone. — Difficult)^ of deciding the question. — All that Natural Religion 
has done. — Man without the Bible unprovided for. — Civilization without it 
self-destructive. — Religion implies relationship to a Higher Being. — Topics 
presented. — Amount of science required for the study. — Conditions necessary 
for fair discussion 17 



LECTURE IL 

PRINCIPLES OF BELIEF. — ADAPTATION OF OUR BODIES TO 
OUR WANTS AND TO THE WORLD. 

Perfect provision for organic beings. — No provision in material world for man's 
highest nature. — Claims of the Bible. — A natural provision for man. — Prin- 
ciples of belief — Theories of creation. — First cause. — Matter might be eternal. 
— Beginning of life. — Antagonism of physical forces and vitality. — Apparent 
harmony between them. — Man an effect. — His creation to be accounted for. 
The germ as wonderful as the developed being. — Bible account of creation. 
— What we should expect to find in such a creation. — Nature an unchange- 
able record. — Questions that would arise without the Bible. — Aid of Geology. 
— The existence of beings, and not their mode of origin, proof of skill and 
power. — Adaptation of our bodies to our use and to the world. — Relations to 
the %vorld established through the senses — Distinctive use of each sense. — 
Conditions necessary for sight. — Relation of light to the atmosphere. — Form 
of objects and effects of surface. — Structure of the eye. — Sense of hearing 
gives knowledge of objects beyond the range of vision. — Mechanism of the 
ear. — Taste and smell. — No special mechanism. — Design shown by the use. 
— Touch. — Kinds of knowledge given by it. — All the senses connected with 
the nervous system. — Vegetative life. — Relation of the body to the world 
considered. — The atmosphere. — Structure of the lung. — Nutrition. — Sleep. 
— Animals fitted for particular zones. — Man for all. — No special sciences 
needed to show our adaptation to the world. — Personality of the Creator 
inferred from the provision for our personality. — Antagonism in nature 46 



viii Contents. 



LECTURE III. 

ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE WORLD BY STRUCTURE, 
FUNCTION, AND INSTINCT. 

PAGE 

Adaptation of Animals to the World. — Special adaptations. — Chance excluded. 
— Man as a physical being differs only in degree. — His sources of enjoyment 
complex. — In animals nothing but adaptations to this world. — Whole classes 
to be treated of — Water Animals. — l\Iicroscopic. — Coral Animals. — Jelly- 
fishes — Starfishes. — MoUusks. — Perfect provision for each form. — The Pinna. 
— Saxicavas. — Nautilus. — Worms. — Crustaceans. — Insects. — Fishes. — Rep- 
tiles. — Birds. — Fitted for change of season. — Hibernation. — Relation to 
length of year. — Instinct. — Sttpplements structure and function. — Gives 
higher type of life. — Defined. — Intelligence in Animals. — Vegetative life in 
Animals. — Relation of instinct to specific structure. — The Natica. — Instinct 
often blind in its action. — The Cicada. — Tent moth. — Migration of flslies. — 
Conscious parental relation in birds. — Uniformity of action resulting from 
instinct. — Wide range of instinct in Mammals. — The Muskrat. — Instinct of 
the young supplemented by that of the parent. — The body and mind fitted 
for each other 78 



LECTURE IV. 

SPECIAL CONTRIVANCES— PRESERVATION OF SPECIES. 

Special adaptations. — Functions. — Cases mentioned by Paley. — Ball and socket 
joint. — Cuttle-fish. — Terebratulas. — Leech. — Gnats. — Bees. — Spiders. — Vari- 
ation of substance according to their instinct. — Silk-worm. — Lobsters and 
Crabs. — Rattlesnake. — Birds. — Fitted for fight — Oil gland. — Structure of 
birds of prey. — Water birds.— Form of bills. — Grebe and Loon. — Waders. — 
Woodpeckers. — Development from use corisiclered. — Homologous structure. 
— Limbs of animals. — Teeth. — Whales and Rays. — Crop of birds. — Preserva- 
tion of species. — Definition of. — Multiplicity of germs. — Distribution of 
seeds. — Springs, balloons, hooks, barbs. — Same end secured by diverse 
means. — Vitality of seeds. — Fertilization of flowers. — Growth of plants sup- 
plementing instinct. — Carnivorous animals limited in number. — Destruction 
of animals provided for. — Suffering and death. — Goodness of Deity to be 
vindicated. — Man's enjoyment and suffering on different grounds. — Present 
discussion confined to lower animals. — Suffering never inflicted for its own 
sake. — Enjoyment in excess of suffering. — Death secures parental relation. — 
Sum of enjoyment increased by succession of animals — Introduction of car- 
nivorous animals increases the sum of enjoyment. — Disease. — Provision for 
its alleviation.— Design may show cruelty. — Apparent cruelty often real bene- 
volence.— Creator Infinite in His attributes 103 



LECTURE V. 

ADAPTATION OF PLANTS TO THE WORLD. 

Design in plants seen only in organization. — Natural selection.— Provision 
made by plants compared with instinct. — Wisdom manifested by instinct 
referred to the Creator. — Relation of plants to earth and air. — Polarity. — 
Structure of leaves. — Fall of leaf. — Structure of wide-leaved trees. — Of ever- 



Contents. ix 



PAGE 

gi-eens. — Position of buds. — Mathematical order. — Symmetry and welfare of 
tree secured. — Variety of habit — Fitted for soil — Climate and place in the 
solar system. — Power of the bud. — Young fruits. — Structure of buds. — Food 
stored up. — The potato. — Beet and Parsnip. — Century plant. — Orchis. — 
Solomon's-.?eal. — Structure of seed. — Perfection and variety of machinery. 
— Relation of plants and animals. — Effect of each on the air. — Vegetable 
kingdom subservient to the animal. — Its support. — Oak galls. — Plants respond 
to the insect's instinct- — Fertilization of plants by insects. — Squashes. — For- 
get-me-nots. — Orchids. — Results 126 



LECTURE VI. 

PRODUCTION OF VARIETIES AND THEIR FINAL CAUSE. 

Origin of species. — May be varied for a wise purpose. — Living and fossil forms, 
parts of one whole. — Four plans of structure. — The rocks the true record. — 
May be mistranslated, but not changed. — Unity of plan in the Divine mind. 
— Changes that favor development theory. — Quotation fi-om Darwin. — 
Variation considered historically. — For a definite purpose — Adapts species 
to wide geographical range. — To man. — Definition of varieties. — Cause not 
known. — Quotation from Gray. — Final cause. — Reference to man. — Beauty 
of crystal. — Difference in kingdom of life. — Organs of plants. — Anthers. — 
Petals. — Double flowers. — Propagation of double plants. — Fleshy fruits. — 
Idea of beauty in some plants. — Of fruit in others. — Two series according to 
lines of development.- — Corn. — Sugar-cane.- — Potato. — Tomato. — Indications 
in wild plants. — Exceptions. — Some plants for a double purpose. — Vegetable 
kingdom for the animal. — Appears primarily for itself — Multitude of germs, 
— Grains of wheat represent food and plant life. — Use of soft fruits — Plants 
and animals constructed for man as an intellectual being. — Increase of beauty 
not for the plant. — Varieties offer condition of continual progress. — Develop- 
ment theory not Atheistic. — Incurable scepticism. — Geology must explain 
origin of species. — Law of variation, evidence of design and wisdom 1^ 



LECTURE Vn. 

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS AND THEIR MUTUAL RELATION. 

Argument for design may rest on collocation alone. — Character of Creator 
learned from the very proofs of His existence. — Number of elements known. 
— Results secured by their nature and relative quantity. — Fixed laws of 
combination. — Neither matter nor force lost.— Pillars of organic life. — Evi- 
dence of design in the constitution of matter. — Equilibrium, how restored in 
the four elements — Balanced affinity.— Nature of their compounds, — Oxygeii 
specially considered. — Its compounds. — The air. — Original condition of 
matter. — Oxygen in the air a residual substance.— Essential to animals. — 
Helps form the tissues and secures activity. — Produces artificial light and 
heat. — Common and active state, — Ozone. — Affinity of oxygen varied by 
lemjieratui-e. — Hydrogen. — Basis of flame — Its inflammable compounds. — 
Combination of properties fitting it for a light-producer. — Combines with 
carbon tp produce light. -r-Summation of properties. — Its f.tness for organic 
structures. — Constant change in animal bodies. — Relation of hydrogen to 
pitrogen. — Nitrogen adds to weiglit of atmosphere. — Moderates the action of 
hydrogen. — Negative properties. — Nature of its compounds. — Carbon. — Dif- 
ferent forms. — Supplements hydrogen in combustion. — As an element, always 
solid. — Coal. — Indestructible at common temperature. — Carbonic acid 177 



Cojttents. 



LECTURE VIII. 

PROVISION FOR THE INTELLECT OF MAN IN THE STRUCTURE 
OF MINERALS AND LAWS OF CHEMICAL COMBINATION. 

PAGE 

Preservation of man requires preservation of other beings. — The whole plan to 
be grasped. — Field of mind. — Animals remain the same. — Man's physical 
nature conditional for his higlier. — Provision for our personality to be 
expected. — Personality of the Creator. — Mind seeks for the laws of nature. 
— Physical good never sought for by the great leaders in science. — Search for 
thought among ancient inscriptions. — Physical and intellectual appetite com- 
pared. — Mind of man and the order of nature from the same Creator. — 
Nature the great teacher. — Her models perfect — Proofs of the provision for 
mind. — Minerals. — Mind must be taxed. — Language of Mmerals. — Our work 
is to translate it. — Perfectly adapted to the human mind. — Cr^'stalline forms. 
— Progress of mind in unlblding them. — Fundamental forms. — Effect of crys- 
talline force in the crust of the earth. — Beauty of crystals for man. — Taylor's 
description of the Russian jewels. — Bible language. — Chemical relation of the 
elements. — Power of the chemist. — Condition-of progress. — Beyond the reach 
of development theories. — Man has increased in knowledge, but not in mental 
power. — Answers which nature gives 210 



LECTURE IX. 

PROVISION FOR man's INTELLECT IN THE RELATIONS OF 
ORGANIC BEINGS AND IN THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 

Kingdom of life. — Mathematical law continued. — Orders of plants. — Animals. — 
Fossils. — All form one picture. — Science discovered. — Manifestation of 
thought in nature. — Astronomy. — Enthusiasm of Naturalist. — Geology. — 
Present changes. — Its key. — Provisions for man's physical wants presuppose 
his intellectual nature — Crust of the Earth shows design. — Man multiplies 
his powers. — Properties of metals. — Gold and Silver. — Platinum, Mercury, 
Iron. — Loadstone-Metals essential to man's progress. — Fuel for man alone — 
Power which Chemistry gives him. — Plants and Animals made to minister 
to his physical wants through his intellectual power 231 



LECTURE X. 

PROVISION FOR THE EMOTIONAL NATURE AND THE VARIED 
INTELLECTUAL TASTES AND POWERS OF MEN. 

Love of the beautiful.— Provision for it in nature. — Taste. — Fine Arts founded 
upon nature. — Poetry — Bible language. — Painting and sculpture. — Music. — 
Conditions necessary for it. — Beauty of outline and color. — Clouds. — Crystals. 
— Plants. — Increase of beauty in leaf and flower. — Double flowers — Micros- 
copic animals. — Corals. — Jelly-fishes. — Shells. — Their beauty not for them- 
selves. — Insects. — Distribution of their color — Vertebrates. — Beauty of fossils. 
— Grandeur and sublimity. — Emotional nature perfect in man ages ago. — 
Different intellectual tastes provided for. — Advance in science and art thus 
secured. — Sciences yet to be unfolded 251 



Contents. xi 



LECTURE XI. 

THE MORAL NATURE OF MAN AND THE BIBLE AS A NATURAL 
PROVISION FOR HIM. 

PAGE 

Decisions of the moral nature. — Chief characteristic of man. — Conscience. — 
Implies accountability. — The existence of a moral governor. — Approval of 
conscience. — Public opinion. — Others suffer from our acts. — Malevolent feel- 
ings produce unhappiness. — Appetites. — Physical suffering from sin. — Labor 
tends to virtue. — The world as it is best for us.—- This world not enough for 
man's powers. — His immortality inferred. — Questions which we need to have 
answered. — The Bible a natural provision. — Adapted to meet the wants of 
man's moral nature. — Answers questions which nature cannot answer. — 
Forgiveness of sin. — Immortality brought to light. — With the Bible, man 
completely provided for 277 



LECTURE XIL 

THE MOSAIC AND GEOLOGIC RECORDS. 

Natural religion not sufficient. — Supposed origin of the Bible. — Correspondence 
to the works of nature. — Seeming disagreement. — First chapter of Genesis. — 
Testimony of Humboldt. — Purpose of the Bible demands some account of 
the creation. — The position taken in the argument. — Chemistry our guide 
before the sedimentary rocks. — Progress in creation. — First condition of 
matter. — Gravitation. — Effect of bringing particles together. — Light. — 
Nott and Gliddon. — Geologic day. — Hugh Miller's view. — Firmament. — 
Office of the atmosphere. Dry land. Introduction of life. Plants created 
first. — Sun and Moon. — Water animals and birds. — Land animals. — Man. — 
Picture of creation as presented to an intelligent being. — Seventh day. — 
Conclusion 296 



PREFACE. 



The following lectures are the natural outgrowth 
of professional study and instruction in College. 
Portions of them have already appeared in Reviews 
and in my published addresses. In fact, several of 
them are but the unfolding of the fourth lecture on 
"The Relations of Natural History," deli- 
vered at the Smithsonian Institution in 1859. 

When I received the invitation to lecture before 
the Lowell Institute, the press of other duties left 
no time to do more than to arrange the materials 
already on hand. In the text, I have endeavored to 
indicate the authors from whom special aid was 
derived. All who have studied any subject for 
years, without thought of publication, know how 
difficult a task it is to tell all the sources of their 
knowledge. Much of Natural Theology, instead of 
commencing with Paley, or with Nieuwentyt, to 



xiv Preface. 

whom Paley was probably much indebted, has so 
long been the common inheritance of thinking 
men that, like some of the fruits and grains, it is 
impossible to trace it back to its original source. 
Much of it, indeed, is so apparent to every student 
of Nature, that it is like the sunlight, seen by all 
without aid from others. 

To the leading idea in these lectures, exceptions 
will be taken by some at the outset ; especially by 
those who, following the lead of Compte, regard all 
inquiries respecting efficient and final causes as 
unphilosophical and useless. 

The world is here represented as having been 
made for man. To him as an intelligent and moral 
being, all nature is subservient. Where he has to 
yield, it is not evidence, that man is disregarded in 
the mechanism of the universe, nor is he overcome 
as inferior to inanimate nature ; but it is simply the 
individual suffering under the operation of some 
law made inflexible for the benefit of the race. 

And when all had been done for man that it 
seems possible to do through an irrational creation, 
and his highest wants were still unprovided for, the 
Bible was given to complete the provision. 

In the highest sense, the final cause of all things 
is the glory of God. So far as the general structure 
of this world is concerned, the final cause of every- 



Preface, xv 

thing is ultimately found in the intellectual and 
moral nature of man. And it is in the provision 
for man, that the high character of a Personal 
Creator is especially manifested. But among the 
myriads of organic beings below man, there is such 
a constant series of adaptations and dependencies, 
that in presenting the argument for design, the doc- 
trine of final causes is ever before us. 

It may be objected to some of the lectures, that 
theories are introduced in respect to which we 
know nothing with certainty now, and perhaps 
never can know anything. The question of the 
validity of such theories will not affect the general 
argument. They are presented as theories only. 
It is impossible that the human mind should always 
stop with ascertained facts. When it has reached 
the limit of the known it will push on, as best it 
may, into the region of the unknown. No harm 
can be done, if the writer fairly states where he is, 
and relies upon facts alone for proof 

In treating of Chemistry and other Sciences, the 
common language and most familiar formulas and 
theories have been adopted. As the facts will 
always remain the same, no advantage would be 
gained by introducing into a work on Natural The- 
ology discussions on the nature of force, and on 
the constitution of matter, or the language and for- 



xvi Preface. 

mulas that have come into partial use in conse- 
quence of new theories. 

The Theory of Development has not been at- 
tacked directly. In fact, those who hold to that 
theory present so many phases of belief, that it is 
difficult for one to refer to it at all, without being 
liable to the charge of unfairness. The learning 
and the labors of the men who hold to it, in some 
form, entitle it to respectful consideration. Its 
leading principles, grounds of proof, and theological 
tendencies, are evidently misunderstood by many 
who oppose it. It is believed, however, that the 
arguments from the final cause of varieties and 
from the chemical relation of the elements to each 
other and to the wants of man are strongly opposed 
to that theory as it is generally held. 

Natural Theology, like the study of Nature in 
general, can never be exhausted. We have in these 
lectures been like a traveller passing through a con- 
tinent from side to side, describing only the narrow 
territory that comes within his own range of vision. 
Other explorers will have new wonders to tell, and 
whole regions are ready to unfold yet other proof 
of the being and character of the Creator to those 
who, in the future, shall search for them. 

Williams College, January, 1867. 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



LECTURE I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Mail's Origin and Destiny. — Questions presented for study. — 
Effect of superstition. — Religious nature. — The great ques- 
tions in refer eiice to niaii. — Man iiaturally seeks to know 
if there is a God. — Sufficiency of the proof of His exist- 
ence. — Theory of our case. — Answers that have beeti given 
from nature. — The Bible. — // imist stand the tests of sci- 
ence. — Natural Religion defined. — Design of the Lowell 
Lectures. — Our situatioji in this world like that of children 
in a palace. — Knowledge of Religion which nien cari obtain 
fro7n nature alone. — Difficulty of deciding the question. — 
All that Nat2iral Religion has done. — Man without the Bi- 
ble ttnprovidedfor. — Civilization without it self destructive. 
— Religion implies rep,atio7iship to a Higher Being. — Topics 
presented. — Amount 'of science required for the study. — • 
Conditions necessary for fair discussion. 

What is man's origin, and what is his destiny ? 
These two questions will at some time engross the 
attention of every thinking man, in spite of all sys- 
tems of Positive Philosophy. In seeking for the 
answers, every field of knowledge will be explored. 
All history and all science will be called upon to 
throw their light upon the past condition of the 
race, and upon its future destiny. It is not possible 



1 8 Natural Theology. 

that man should measure the heavens and compre- 
hend the dust of the earth, read its past history in 
the rocks and predict the coming changes in this 
physical universe, and yet so far ignore himself as 
to forget to ask how he came upon this earth, and 
for what purpose he is here. We see a vast chain 
of being stretching below us, but no race above us. 
Are we then the highest order of beings in the 
universe, or are there other orders to whom we sus- 
tain relations, and by whom we may be affected for 
good or for evil ? We know that our course on 
earth will soon be run. Is this our only theatre of 
action ; or is there another yet to come, independent 
of this, or having some relation to it } This is the 
great question that must force itself upon the 
thoughts of every civilized man. An attempt to 
give an answer involves the consideration of all 
those subjects, which give us the great outlines of 
Natural Theology and of Natural Religion. Among 
these subjects thus presented for our study, we 
find the being and character of God — the origin 
and final destiny of man — his relations to God and 
the duties growing out of those relations. All 
observation shows that before man becomes civil- 
ized, he is under the power of a superstition that 
takes the place of rational belief in reference to all 
these subjects. This superstition may retain its 
hold long upon the mind even in the midst of civil- 
ization, and may be joined with some of its highest 
manifestations in literature and art. The first burst- 
ing away from that superstition is often to infidelity 



Religions Nature i^t Man. 19 

and sometimes even to atheism. But neither athe- 
ism nor infidehty is the natural state of man. He 
has a religious nature. We may say that there is 
no foundation for it, nothing that corresponds to it 
out of himself But no student of the human mind 
would deny the possession of this nature to the race, 
any more than he would deny man's social nature 
or his appreciation and love of the beautiful. This 
religious nature has ever proved too powerful to al- 
low infidelity and atheism more than a passing tri- 
umph. They have sometimes, indeed, fallen like a 
disease upon whole masses of men ; but generally 
they have appeared only here and there, as blindness 
and deafness are the misfortunes of but few. This 
religious nature, which no condition of the race has 
ever been able to eradicate or weaken, except under 
abnormal and temporary conditions, marshals the 
highest powers of the mind to seek by reason that 
certainty for its advanced life which superstitious 
belief gave to the race in the times of ignorance. 
It becomes a great moving power, that can no more 
be destroyed nor restrained from its legitimate ac- 
tion than any of the great forces of nature. Under 
its promptings, man will not believe that progress 
in knowledge is to shut the soul out from that en- 
joyment which ignorant belief gave it. The con- 
viction of the great thinkers of the race has been 
that even the absurd superstitions and religious be- 
liefs of ignorance are not entirely groundless — that 
they must rest on a basis of truth, because they 
meet so fully the desires of the soul. As the light 



20 Natural Theology. 

of civilization advances, those desires are not weak- 
ened, but strengthened ; and therefore it follows that 
when superstition has lost its dominion over the 
mind, an attempt will always be made to satisfy by 
reason that want which the soul demands to have 
met. And thus it has come to pass that the history 
of the human mind includes a history of struggles 
with these questions. Am I a creature of chance } 
Am I like the brutes, except in degree } Am I the 
highest intelligence in the universe, or is this whole 
world the work of an intelligent personal Being, and 
does its Creator rule and govern it, so that I am now 
accountable to Him, and ever to remain so } In 
other words, am I a mortal being with power to close 
my existence at any moment, accountable while I 
live only to my fellow-men ; or am I immortal, and 
is my destiny in the hands of a Higher Power "i It 
is necessary for the peace and true dignity of man 
that these questions should be settled. What peace 
can there be for him while he is in doubt whether 
death brings to him eternal oblivion, or opens the 
portal of another life related to the present } How 
can man rise to the dignity of an immortal in thought 
and action, while uncertain that there remains to 
him another hour of conscious existence } We do 
not wonder then that these questions have engrossed 
the great minds of all ages. They speak in a lan- 
guage so loud that they must be heard even above 
the roar of passion and the thousand tongues of this 
physical universe. All questions of mere physical 
science sink into insignificance compared with these. 



Sufficiency of Proof. 21 

Indeed the value of questions in physical science 
depends much upon how these higher questions are 
answered. 

We assumed in the outset a religious nature in 
man — manifesting its existence by his religious 
impulses and desires. Man naturally seeks to know 
if there is a God, and what relations he sustains to 
that God. No one will deny this who is at all 
versed in the history of human belief Men have 
in their untutored state received a belief in the 
existence of some higher power, either from tra- 
dition or as the outgrowth of their nature. In the 
highest forms of society, investigations have led 
most men to the same result. These investigations 
have been so uniform in producing a belief in God, 
that we have in this fact a strong presumptive evi- 
dence of the sufficiency of the proof of His exist- 
ence, and of the power of the human mind to weigh 
that proof. As the childish credulity of an early 
age gave way before advancing knowledge, it was 
only the few who failed to find higher and surer 
ground of belief — to grasp proof fitted to satisfy 
the progressing mind. As more proof became 
necessary to produce conviction, more proof always 
presented itself; so that the great majority of men 
who have left in words or in acts a record of their 
thoughts and convictions, have believed in an invisi- 
ble world, in a divine Personal Being, and in a future 
state of existence. So uniformly has this opinion 
prevailed that we are justified in assuming that 
there are some things in this universe that tend to 



22 Natural Theology. 

show that it is the creation of a Personal Being, and 
that it has somewhere in its structure marks that 
may fairly be presumed to indicate the character of 
its Creator ; that there is also some proof that man 
is an accountable being, and that there are some 
means by which he can establish such relations with 
his Creator as that accountability requires. This 
may not be true ; but it has been held by so many of 
the best minds the world has seen, that we may be 
allowed to start with this theory of our case. Our 
theory then is, that man and all creatures in the 
universe are the work of a Personal Being. That 
Personal Being we wish to search for, to learn His 
character and our relations to Him. For such a result, 
no journey would be too long, no fatigue too great. 
In this investigation, we naturally look to see what 
those who have gone before us have to offer for our 
aid and guidance. We ask where they searched for 
an answer to these questions which seem to have 
been the common inheritance of the race .'' We 
ask them what answer they received, and in what 
language the oracle gave its response t And lo ! 
all down the ages come the answers from those 
philosophers, who claim to have found their ora- 
cles speaking from the heavens, or from the 
foundations and adornings of this earth. Others 
have found, or fancied that they have found, 
the answer in the wondrous powers and relation- 
ships of their own being. Above all these sources 
of knowledge, we have a Book, claiming divine ori- 
gin, claiming to be the written Word of the Being 



Claims of the Bible. 23 

we are searching for, revealing His character and 
answering every question we need to propound re- 
specting Him and our relations to Him. If this 
Book is all it claims to be, it is all we need in this 
investigation. But we have not yet learned even 
that there is such a Being ; or, granting His existence, 
that the Book is His work. We are not yet prepared 
to pronounce the Bible obsolete, a collection of old 
wives' fables mingled here and there with flashes of 
a high philosophy ;. but we freely acknowledge that 
the Bible must stand the tests which science can 
fairly put it to. If, by fair interpretation, it is shown 
to conflict with the revelations of nature, it can no 
longer claim authority as the Word of God, But we 
find this Book boldly proclaiming its own Author to 
be the same that created the world and all it con- 
tains. We find it boldly referring to the world as 
evidence of the existence and attributes of this Being. 
The heavens, the sea, and dry land, the change of 
seasons and the history of nations, are all referred 
to as proof of the existence of this Creator and 
Governor of the universe. It makes no attempt to 
stand by itself; but claiming to be the Word of God, 
it claims also that the world was made by Him. 
Whether, therefore, we ignore the Bible in religion 
or desire to accept it, we are shut up in the first 
place to the study of nature. But if that Book is 
shown to be false, we are shut up to the study of 
nature alone for all knowledge of God and of a fu- 
ture life. Is there any evidence then in nature, not 
only of the existence of God, but that this Book 



24 ' Natin^al Theology. 

with such wonderful claims is the word or work of 
Him who laid the foundations of the hills, and fash- 
ioned man with this curious body, and made him an 
intelligent being ? That we may be able to answer 
this question, we will gather the wisdom of the past, 
we will ourselves dig for some marble not yet dis- 
covered, that we may read on it the name and works 
of the Great Builder. If we can from this accumu- 
lated evidence satisfy ourselves not only of the ex- 
istence of a God, who has left His witness in the 
dust of the earth, in the varied forms of life, and in 
the golden stars that adorn the blue enamel of the 
sky, but can be sure that He has declared to us His 
counsel in a written Word, our work is done. No 
possible question can man ask for himself, either for 
his highest gratification or good, that is not answer- 
ed in the Bible. Assure him that this Book is what 
it claims to be, and he can learn there, in language 
too plain to be misunderstood, both his duty and his 
destiny. Natural Religion, as generally defined, is 
what can be learned of God and our relations to 
Him without the Bible. But if the Bible is what it 
claims to be. Natural Religion will appear in its 
greatest perfection, not when standing (alone) like an 
incomplete shaft, as it certainly now is, and proba- 
bly must of itself ever remain, but when surmounted 
by that gorgeous capital, the revealed Word, wrought 
by the same hand. They will thus both blend in a 
divine harmony of proportion and structure, each 
one the completion and explainer of the other. It 
was the desire to show not only that there is a Na- 



I 



Object of the Lowell Lectures, 25 

tural Religion, but that it either embraces the Bible 
as a part of its complete development, or at least 
that it so harmonizes with the Bible as to show their 
unity of origin, that led the generous founder of this 
Institute to direct lectures to be given on this subject. 
His design is best expressed in his own words, which 
we here give as our guide in limiting the range of 
this discussion : " As the most certain ajid inost im- 
portant part of pJiilosophy appears to me to be that 
which shows the connection between God's revelations 
aud the knowledge of good and evil iinplanted by 
Him in our nature, I wish a course of lectures to be 
delivered on Natural Religion showing its conform- 
ity to that of our Saviour^ We have here the re- 
cognition of the great truth that there is but one 
religion, and that nature and the Bible are parts of 
the same divine revelation. If this is so, if the 
founder of this lectureship was not mistaken in 
what seemed to him the most certain as well as the 
most important part of philosophy, then nature and 
the Bible must be studied together ; and those who 
would separate them, are like those who would 
study astronomy and ignore the sun ; or, charmed 
with the glorious effulgence of the day, scorn to 
study the brilliant hosts that bestud the canopy of 
night. 

We find ourselves in this world like children in a 
palace built and furnished by a royal father whom 
they have never seen. They admire its grandeur 
and beauty, and wonder at its marvellous adaptations 
to their wants. As they increase in age and their 



26 Natural Theology. 

wants increase, new adaptations are constantly dis- 
covered to meet those wants. They see in one 
place evidence of power, in another of matchless 
skill and of exhaustless wealth, all so conspiring to 
their gratification that they cannot doubt it was 
intended for them. They may not be able to under- 
stand the use of all the parts, but the more they 
study them the more they discover adaptations 
intended for their good ; so that love towards them, 
and care for them, are plainly apparent as control- 
ling the entire plan. Certainly these conditions 
would awaken in them some desire to know the 
builder and owner. Gratitude would seek an occa- 
sion of manifesting itself ; or if gratitude found no 
place in the heart, there would be the desire to know, 
if they were to continue tenants at their own plea- 
sure, and enjoy such provisions for ever, without any 
accountability to the provider. While much might 
be learned from the building and its provisions of 
the character of the builder, it is evident many ques- 
tions would arise for which no definite answer could 
be found in the structure itself It might be doubt- 
ful how far the owner still cared for the building and 
those it contained, or what new relations they might 
yet sustain to him. If he still exercised watchful 
care over them, there might be doubt as to what use 
of these provisions would meet his approbation, or 
what return he might require to be made for the 
benefits bestowed. If now a writing were pre- 
sented to them claiming to be indited by him, in 
which his character was fully set forth, for their more 



Method of Proof. 27 

perfect instruction, we can well imagine what a trea- 
sure it would be regarded. With what eagerness 
would they examine the proof of its authenticity, 
when one set of witnesses appeared, assuring them 
that their father had spoken the words recorded to 
them, stamping the writings with his own royal sig- 
net, while bold declaimers were heard on every side 
declaring the book to be a forgery, or the work of 
men so deluded that they thought themselves record- 
ing the words of the king, when they were penning 
their own fanatical or mystical notions ! Still more 
would this interest be increased, if it were shown that 
the gravest consequences depended upon deciding 
this question aright. If we were called upon to 
decide the question, what would be our method of 
investigation, and what would be to us ample proof 
that the palace and the book were the offspring of 
the same mind, that they were the work of the same 
master's hand .'' Plainly we should never expect 
fairly and successfully to settle the question by the 
examination of either alone ; but making ourselves 
complete masters of both, we should institute be- 
tween them the strictest comparison. Suppose we 
find in the book a (pretended) history of our palace, 
even to its foundation-stones, and, removing the rub- 
bish of ages, we find the gigantic courses laid as they 
are described in the book, while beneath the corner- 
stones are found the historic memorials confirming 
the written record, though we know those who pen- 
ned it never could have personally known of their 
existence. And the more we study the writing, 



28 Natural Theology. 

the more it agrees with what we have found out by 
observation and experience of the stru6lure and 
its provisions, until it comes to be a grand epic 
giving in words what the solid stone and cunning 
ornaments of the palace both reveal. There is har- 
mony, there is nothing to lead us to doubt ; there 
is on the other hand a n6t-work of proof to convince 
us that both book and palace are the product of 
the same royal intellect and skill. We are satisfied 
now that we understand the king's will ; we have the 
law that is to guide us, the assurance of his con- 
stant, watchful care, and of untold future blessings 
in store for us. None but the most sordid and 
guilty could fail to rejoice at such a result, or to 
look upon every beauty of his home with increased 
delight and affection, and to cherish the written 
words as the most precious gift, not only because of 
the blessings they promise, but because they were 
indited by a father's heart. 

If we inquire now what knowledge of religion 
man can reach from the study of nature alone, the 
answer is most difficult. The trial has never been 
made under the best possible conditions. If we are 
to judge from what has already been done, we should 
say that in reference to the highest truths of religion, 
nature merely suggests probable results, simply cre- 
ates the desire for religious knowledge without giv- 
ing it. It prepares the moral system for its food, 
but the demand thus created must be supplied from 
a higher source. The ancients with minds equal, 
to say the least, to ours, were under the dominion 



Knowledge of the Ancients. 29 

of a false philosophy, and were mere children in 
their knowledge of nature compared to us. They 
had neither the background of history, nor the 
thousand means of physical research that we pos- 
sess. They might be our masters in poetry and 
sculpture, and even in mental acumen and philoso- 
phic power, and yet not be able to grapple with this 
question of God in nature as we can, any more than 
they were able to unfold the wonders of the heavens 
as we do, armed as we are with our telescopes that 
multiply the eye's power a thousand times, and 
with our analysis that traces planets that even the 
telescope has not revealed. Socrates, that great 
master of ancient times, seemed to consider the 
movement of the stars as above the comprehension 
of men, and all study of the heavens a useless waste 
of time, an attempt to pry into what belonged to the 
gods alone to know. Burdened as they were by 
false philosophy, and beclouded by ignorance of 
physical science, we can only wonder at the judicious 
use they made of the materials at hand, and rejoice 
above all in the strength of the religious nature 
which impelled them to accept the great truths of 
religion, though sustained at that time only by so- 
phistry or defective proof 

If we ask what progress has been made in modern 
times, even in the boldest attempts at establishing 
an absolute religion without the aid of revelation, 
we know not, the authors of such systems know 
not, how much of their light was first borrowed, and 
then reflected. Are the most brilliant and leading 



30 Natural Theology. 

truths that shine in the firmament of their systems 
like the fixed stars that give their light constantly 
and certanily from their own bodies, or are they like 
the moon and primary planets, bodies that would 
have eluded all human power of discovery were they 
not gilded by a great central light ? If our earth 
were lighted by the stars alone, we could with our 
present organs of sight guide ourselves in some 
places in safety. Probably we should infer from the 
amount of light received that more would be highly 
desirable, and that we were fitted to enjoy and pro- 
fit by more. Perhaps we might argue from our 
need of it, and from our power to profit by it, that 
more would be given, if we were assured that what 
we already enjoyed was provided for us by a bene- 
volent Being, the Creator of the eye and the Author 
of light. But all we should be certain of would be 
the desirableness of more. This is as far as Natural 
Religion has ever gone, that we can learn. It has 
established the proof of a God or Creator of all 
things. It has shown that while all the desires and 
capacities of the inferior animals have a perfect pro- 
vision made for them, and that while the desires 
and capacities of man, as a physical being, have had 
full provision made for them, those desires which we 
call religious have never yet been satisfied by the 
study of nature alone. In fact, none of those great 
truths which relate to a future life have ever yet 
been substantiated except by a written Word. We 
simply indicate here as the result, wdiat we hope to 
prove and illustrate. The assertion may be denied 



The Bible. 31 

now ; it may be denied in spite of any amount of 
proof to support it. But it must be overthrown by 
proof of what has been done, and not by the mere 
assertion of what may be done, as the grand fruiting 
of some specious or arrogant philosophy. 

That some should claim that they have already 
found in Natural Religion all the light they need, 
is by no means strange. In such a world as I have 
supposed, lighted only by glimmering fixed stars, 
no doubt some would be found to declare the light 
sufficient. If they did so, it would not be proof 
that they enjoyed more light, or had better eyes 
than their neighbors, but rather that they did not 
fully appreciate the capacity of the eye, and had no 
conception of the advantages and glorious splendor 
of perfect day. And if the written Word is proved 
to be an imposition, then man stands an anomaly 
among the creatures of the globe, with capacities 
and desires for which no adequate provision has 
been made. For us, who have always lived in the 
light of the Bible, it is specially difficult to know 
what we should have been without it, or rather what 
it is possible for society to become without its 
influence. 

Certainly, the highest civilizations that the race 
ever attained without it were marred by acknow- 
ledged principles of injustice, cruelty, and impurity. 
They contained within themselves the very princi- 
ples of self-destruction or degradation. The bril- 
liancy of such civilizations is no more to be com- 
pared with a civilization founded upon the righteous j 



32 Natural Theology. 

self-preserving, and elevating principles of the Bible, 
than the flash of lightning is to be compared to the 
sunlight. But though the sun is the great source 
of light and life, it is not the only light that beams 
from the heavens. The stars are still worthy of 
our study and admiration. When the sun is down, 
they give light to the traveller. By them the 
mariner makes his way sure upon- the pathless deep. 
They are like the sun itself, eternal sources of light, 
the same in kind, though to us oifering faint and 
feeble rays compared with his. From the study of 
them, we arrive at a more perfect knowledge of the 
sun itself than ever could be obtained from the 
study of the sun alone. They are scattered over 
the whole concave, some blazing with the brilliant 
light of Sirius, others apparent only to the long- 
continued gaze of the best-trained eye, and whole 
firmaments are glittering with thousands beyond, 
that only telescopic poAver can reveal. They well 
represent the truths of Natural Religion. 

Whatever ideas may have been connected with the 
word religion, it now involves the idea of relation- 
ship to a higher Being. The first condition, the 
very foundation of this idea, is belief in the exist- 
ence of such a Being. If proof of this is impos- 
sible, then the word religion may remain, and it 
may come to mean something ; but its present sig- 
nificance must be entirely lost. Nor is the mere 
existence of such a Being a sufficient basis for 
religion. It may be a grand theme for philo- 
sophic speculation ; but to make religion possible, 



Topics Presented. 33 

it must be shown that this Being sustains re- 
lations to us ; that we either now are, or in some 
future time shall be affected by Him. This would 
be sufficient to raise in the mind apprehension, and 
a desire to know more of what that relationship re- 
quired of us, or at least what it would bring to us. 
So far as we might be able to determine the character 
of this Being, His relations to us, and the results that 
would flow to us from that relationship, would our 
religious knowledge be perfect ; and so far as we 
should act upon that knowledge, our rehgious prac- 
tice would be perfect also. 

We have, then, the following general topics pre- 
sented for our consideration : 

First. — The existence and attributes of God. 

Second. — His relationship to us, and the results 
that will flow from that relationship. This involves 
a discussion of our religious capacities and of our 
immortality. 

Third. — The necessary failure of nature to an- 
swer fully all questions demanded by our intellectual 
and religious desires. 

Fourth. — Proof from the physical universe and 
the spiritual constitution of man that the Bible is 
the work of God, because it is an absolute necessity 
to man, completing in its provisions what his nature 
demands, and the light of nature fails to reveal — 
involving a discussion of the harmony of nature and 
the written word. 

The first two of these general topics are essential 
to the presentation of Natural Religion as generally 

2* 



34 Natural Theology, 

defined ; the last two grow legitimately from the 
discussion of the others, and are needed to com- 
plete the scheme by which it is attempted to show 
that natural and revealed religion are parts of the 
same system of truth, and that nature and the 
Bible supplement each other in making the great 
provision for the religious nature of man. 

We have here no array of subjects for brilliant 
declamation, but those great questions that ever 
have moved the soul of man to its profoundest 
depths, and ever will move it, as the silent moon 
lifts the tidal waves from the depths of the ocean, 
and ever shall lift them in eternal succession, while 
the earth revolves upon its axis. In a field so vast, 
we can only make a few excursions at random ; but 
if in every exploration we find evidence of the same 
handiwork, we may well believe that the Great 
Master has left no place without evidence of His 
being. It need not deter us from the examination 
of so broad a field, that the cry is raised that 
sciences are so vast in their requirements that only 
a few men can speak on each with authority. This 
is true in regard to some questions connected with 
every science. Only a few stand upon the dividing 
line between the known and the unknown, peering out 
into the dark ocean for new discoveries. But when 
truths are discovered, they soon become the proper- 
ty of every educated mind. And every department 
of nature, so far as it is really needed for our pur- 
pose, is open to every man of ordinary scientific 
attainment. And we call upon those who can look 



Cotiditions Necessary. 35 

so far beyond their fellows to bring out their dis- 
coveries and place them where they belong in 
science, and then others can judge as well as they 
of the simple question of the bearing of such dis- 
coveries upon the proof of the being and attributes 
of God, and upon the destiny of man. And the 
pretence that is sometimes made, that no one can 
judge of the bearings of a science upon these ques- 
tions, who is not in a position to undertake original 
research in such sciences, is unsound in argument, 
to apply no harsher term to it. We simply say 
that there is enough within the reach of all to prove 
every point we wish to make, and we challenge 
those who have entered the very arcana of the 
sciences to bring opposing testimony. 

We shall occupy the remainder of this lecture in 
a consideration of the conditions necessary for the 
fair discussion of this subject, and of the difficulties 
likely to be encountered in the presentation and 
judging of the proof 

It is a maxim of common law and of common- 
sense, that it is useless to try a case and present 
proof before one whose mind is already made up. 
To be fitted for a juror, one must be free from per- 
sonal bias, and competent to weigh the proof In 
all that relates to Natural Religion, we may have 
decided opinions now ; but from the very nature of 
the proof — from the impossibility of our having ex- 
amined and weighed it all, we can, if we choose, put 
ourselves into the condition of honest and compe- 



36 Natural Theology. 

tent jurors. All that we are called upon to grant 
in the outset is, that the theory of the case is a pos- 
sible one ; that the case in its nature is one capable 
of proof We do not ask you to grant that it can 
be proved with the means at our command, but 
simply that it is a supposable case that convincing 
proof might be produced. With this concession 
there is also need of a determination to give a care- 
ful and candid consideration to the facts and argu- 
ments presented as proof The condition of the 
mind will not be favorable to a just consideration of 
the proof, if the result aimed at by the investigation 
is considered undesirable, or in any respect adverse 
to our interests. Our desires and our interests, real 
or fancied, insensibly affect our judgment of the 
validity of arguments. It requires not only honesty 
of purpose, but the highest sagacity in unravelling 
our mental processes, to guard against the vitiating 
element of our own interest in the decision of any 
case. So readily is this acknowledged by all, that 
it is taken as one of the plainest maxims in human 
action. In the question before us, our highest in- 
terests are involved. Answer it one way, and we 
are accountable to men alone. We can free our- 
selves from all accountability and from all troubles 
with the stiletto or with poison. Answer it ano- \ 

ther way, and it becomes as impossible for us to 
escape responsibility as it is for us to stop the earth 
in its course. We are all either in favor of, or op- 
posed to the results which we shall attempt to reach 
in this investigation. Would it delight us to know 



Difficulties. 37 

that God not only created the world, but that He is 
the Author of the Bible ; that we are now in His 
power, and must ever remain there ? According as 
we honestly answer these questions, we find our- 
selves ready to accept or reject the great truths 
which are essential to religion, natural or revealed. 
But the fact that our decision will not change our 
relationships, and the infinite interests that are at 
stake if those relationships really do exist, will do 
much, if rightly appreciated, to make us honest. 
The hazard would seem to be too great for us to be 
willing to make the least mistake in our investiga- 
tions. We ought to be willing to admit every new 
proof, and be ready to abandon, if need be, our long- 
cherished opinions. 

The difficulties in the way of a proper presenta- 
tion of the subject are various, and not easily reme- 
died. We meet with one formidable at the very 
outset. The subject is thought to be hackneyed. 
For thousands of years it has been one of the 
staples of human thought, and in its investigation 
every field of knowledge has been explored by most 
successful observers. The Paleys and Bucklands 
will never be surpassed, and probably never equalled, 
in their peculiar style and line of argument. And 
if there is much that is false, and much that is 
worthless, yearly spoken and written on this sub- 
ject, it only shows how familiar must be all its 
leading truths to the common mind. It has then 
no charm like that which new discoveries and new 
subjects of human thought possess for the moment. 



38 Natural Theology, 

We are to tread ground that has been worn like the 
great thoroughfares, where we have travelled so 
often that not only the great monuments along the 
wayside, but the humblest flowers even, have been 
seen, and every spot of beauty has lost the charm 
of novelty. If there is delight in store for us, it 
must be from deepened convictions and clearer 
views of truths already acknowledged, or perchance 
from some new truth which we may gather as 
gleaners find here and there a scattered ear after 
the harvest has been carefully garnered. 

Still another difficulty which must always be taken 
into consideration is the impossibility of presenting 
the proof in its fulness. To do this, a naturalist must 
present the studies and observations of a lifetime. 
All he can do is to present the great outcrops of 
proof, while with the mental eye he can himself 
follow the strata deep beyond the reach of mere 
sight as surely as though they were open to every 
observer. One viewing the outcropping rocks upon 
a mountain-top for the first time, wonders that the 
geologist can tell what will be found by those who 
tunnel through its base ; so there may reasonably 
be expected to be doubt when disconnected proof is 
presented for the first time, while that proof, if pon- 
dered on and seen in all its relations, would seem as 
firm as the hills upon their rocky thrones. When 
we have accepted the great truths of astronomy and 
other physical sciences because they have been 
proved to us, we are seldom aware how much our 
ready acceptance was due to the common belief of 



Influence of Common Belief. 39 

the world. The rejection of the same proof by 
minds of the highest order, and perfectly conversant 
with all the facts of the case, shows this. That 
proof which now seems to us like mathematical 
demonstration, was long years in overcoming the 
prejudices of the learned as well as of the vulgar, so 
as to have any weight at all. Tycho Brahe, with 
his eye almost continually fixed upon the heavens, 
would not believe the sun to be the centre of our 
system, although daily recording observations that 
would now be received by every intelligent man as 
proof of this accepted truth. We do not accept the 
proof because we have greater mental power or 
greater knowledge than Tycho Brahe. We accept 
the truth on the belief of the world, and then exa- 
mine the proof of what we are ready and willing to 
believe on the testimony of others. The belief of 
men who have given long and patient investigation 
to any subject ought to have weight with us. The 
world would make slow progress were it not a prin- 
ciple in our nature to have faith in the knowledge 
of such men. They are sometimes mistaken, and 
their mistakes do mischief and prevent progress for 
a time. And for this reason, while their opinions 
are entitled to weight, we should hold ourselves 
ready to reject them at once when they are shown 
to be mistaken. The men who have gone before us 
are worthy of our respect, and are generally entitled 
to our confidence in the conclusions they have 
reached ; but as they have differed on many points, 
they are not infallible, and therefore it is that 



40 Natural Theology. 

every generation has need to tread the ground for 
itself. 

Still another difficulty is the fact that objects in 
nature have so long been familiar that they fail to 
excite the emotions, or to convince the understand- 
ing as they ought, and they thus fail to impress us 
as proof of creative power. They appear in the 
ordinary course of nature ; and this unchanging 
course, always referable in the first analysis to the 
acknowledged forces of the physical world, fails to 
impress us as the expression of a personal power. 
The harmony of nature becomes to us like the 
mysterious notes of the ^Eolian harp, as the light air 
touches its strings, and wakes the sweetest music. 
We have always seen the combinations and changes 
around us. Or if some new and wonderful combina- 
tion is discovered, we are able to refer it at once to 
some force already well known. We content our 
minds with the word " natural." Whatever is com- 
mon makes little impression on the senses, or 
rather the mind ceases to take cognizance of the 
impressions. Novelty, on the other hand, has a 
charm that rouses the mind to activity, and this 
activity is necessary to the full apprehension of the 
value of the facts and relations upon which we rely 
for producing conviction of the truth. Aristotle, in 
a fragment preserved by Cicero in his De Natura 
Deorum, beautifully illustrates the effect of common 
things, if seen for the first time. " If," said he, 
" there were beings who lived in the depths of the 
earth in dwellings adorned with statues and paint- 



Loss of Effect. 41 

ings, and everything which is possessed in rich 
abundance by those whom we esteem fortunate ; 
and if these beings could receive tidings of the 
power and might of the gods, and could then 
emerge from their hidden dwellings, through the 
open fissures of the earth, to the places which we 
inhabit — if they could suddenly behold the earth, 
and the sea, and the vault of heaven — could recog- 
nise the expanse of the cloudy firmament, and the 
might of the winds of heaven, and admire the sun in 
its majesty, beauty, and radiant effulgence ; and 
lastly, when night had veiled the earth in darkness, 
they could behold the starry heavens, the changing 
moon, and the stars rising and setting in the unvary- 
ing course ordained from eternity, they would surely 
exclaim, ' There are gods, and such great things must 
be the work of their hands.' " 

These wonderful works have been ever before us, 
so that it is hard for us to realize that there was a 
time when they were not — and harder still to feel 
the full force of the proof which their mechanism 
ought to be to us. And the humbler objects of 
natural history, not calculated to excite emotions 
of grandeur and sublimity, which we daily tread 
beneath our feet, according to the common laws of 
mind pass unnoticed, or when noticed, fail to con- 
vince us as they ought. There may be a wonderful 
arrangement of parts, all fitted to produce a certain 
result ; but then we cannot see the hand of God 
tinting the flower and arranging each part for its 
appropriate work. The plant springs from the 



42 Natural Theology. 

ground, and its kind has done so for thousands of 
generations. If we could but for a moment see the 
Divine Hand apply the rule, weigh the elements, 
and join the varied cells, how different the case 
would be ! But from the work alone, the builder 
must be known to us. As we walk among the old 
ruins, it is hard to realize that the stones were hewn 
and raised and joined by men. When the Ameri- 
can first visits Mount Vernon, how difficult for him 
to realize that here really is the home of the hero 
whose name he has revered. It is not strange, then, 
that this difficulty of realizing should in the case of 
natural objects sometimes end in doubt of a Per- 
sonal God. It is not strange, at least, that it should 
result so to those who see no more than they saw 
when they were children — the merest fragments of 
the common forms that surround them. And though 
the wondrous works of design should be described, 
it is not he who studies them in books alone, but he 
whose eye has seen the living loop and hinge, that 
can understand their power to convince. What 
knows the man who has merely read of Mount 
Washington, of the sense of power he feels who 
climbs the Titan blocks which form that grand 
monument of nature's forces } What knows the 
man who has simply read of Niagara, of the emo- 
tions of him who looks up to the bending flood and 
is deafened by its thunder } It is the real thing, 
and not its description, that must be relied upon to 
convince. And if we wish to prove the strength of 
the argument from design, must we look to those 



Competent Judges. 43 

who have only read books and looked upon the 
same unvarying surface all their lives, or to the 
naturalist, who has been walking within the great 
cabinets of nature all his life, each day opening 
some alcove filled with new beauties and adapta- 
tions ? Shall we inquire respecting the landscape 
in the distance, of him who has always walked upon 
the plain at the base of the mountain, or of him who 
daily ascends that mountain and views that land- 
scape from every possible point ? The common 
observer is like Aristotle's fancied beings in the 
centre of the earth — remaining there for ever, hear- 
ing of the gods and their works, but seeing the 
whole array of nature only as delineated in pictures 
of landscapes and the orreries invented by men to 
represent the movements of the heavenly bodies. 
But the naturalist, with his trained senses for observ- 
ing, is as it were raised from the centre to the surface 
to look off upon a new world. 

And when the question is raised respecting the 
Bible, as to its claim to being a part of the great 
revelation, shall we accept the dicta of those men 
who are so ignorant of the Bible as hardly to know 
the Old Testament from the New } Any man who 
should pretend to give a scientific opinion with the 
same ignorance of nature that most of those men 
have of the Bible who undertake to decide upon its 
claims, would be driven from all intelligent society 
as charlatans and impostors. Theologians declaim- 
ing against the deductions of sciences of which 
they know nothing, and scientific men who have so 



44 Natural Theology. 

much arrogance or so little philosophy as to ridi- 
cule the Bible of which they are often profoundly 
ignorant, it is to be hoped will soon be among the 
things of the past. 

We are also met with the objection that we may 
not be right in our physical explanations. Old theo- 
ries in science have been thrown aside as the dreams 
of children. Why may not ours .-* Many of the theo- 
ries now received may be modified or rejected. But 
the facts upon which we shall in the main rely never 
change. If we introduce theories at all, it will not 
be as an essential part of the argument. It may not 
be true that water contains an equal number of atoms 
of hydrogen and oxygen, according to the commonly 
accepted chemical theory. There may not be atoms 
at all ; but the fact still remains, and will be un- 
changed while the world stands, that one-ninth of 
water by weight is hydrogen, and eight-ninths oxy- 
gen, and that its greatest density is between seven 
and eight degrees above the freezing point. 

And yet once more we have the unpopular side, 
because we attempt to sustain the old belief It is 
more popular and more flattering to our pride to pull 
down and bnild anew with startling paradoxes, than 
to accept the old, although it may be the right. To 
tear down is a short and exciting work that seldom 
fails to attract a wondering crowd. Some minds can 
never be satisfied unless the thing presented is 
new. If new, its truth is. little considered. We 
have no new and startling theories to present. 

We reverently enter the temple of Nature, that we 



Conclusion. 45 

may there read the character of the Builder. Its 
walls, we believe, were not piled by chance ; its cun- 
ning adjustments are not the sporting of the ele- 
ments. From foundation-stone to topmost turret, 
we hope to read our Father's wisdom, power, and 
love. We hope to open the ark of the testimony 
and find his own seal stamped upon his written 
Word. We hope to hear Him speaking with one 
voice from Nature and the Bible, declaring himself 
the Great First Cause, the Creator of the world, our 
Creator, our God, and our Father. 



46 Natural Theology. 



LECTURE II. 

PRINCIPLES OF BELIEF. ADAPTATION OF OUR BODIES 

TO OUR WANTS AND TO THE WORLD. 

Perfect provision for organic beings. — A^o provision in mate- 
rial world for 7nan''s highest 7tat7ire, — Clai7ns of the Bible. 
— A natural provision for 7nan. — Pri7iciples of belief. — 
Theories of creatio7t. — First cause. — Matter 77iight be eter- 
nal. — Begi7ini7ig of life. — A7itag07iis77i of physical forces 
and vitality. — Apparent har77i07iy bet'wee7i the77i. — Ma7i an 
effect. — His creation to be-accou7ited for. — The ger77i as 
wo7ide?ful as the developed bei7ig. — Bible accou7it of creatio7i. 
— What we should expect tofnd in such a creatio7i. — Nature 
a7i U7ichangeable record. — Questio7is that would arise with- 
out the Bible. — Aid of geology. — The existe7ice of bei7igs, 
and not their 77tode of 07^igi7i., proof of skill a7id power. — 
Adaptatiofi of our bodies to our use a7id to the world. — Re- 
lations to the world established through the senses. — Disti7ic- 
tive use of each se7ise. — Co7iditio7is necessajy for sight. — 
Relatio7i of light to the atniosphe7'e. — Fo7'77i of objects and 
effects of surface. — Structtire of the eye. — Se7ise of heari7ig 
gives k7iowledge of objects beyo7id the ra7ioe of visio7i. — Me- 
cha7iis77t of the ear. — Taste a7id smell. — No special 77iecha7i- 
is77i. — Desig7i show7i by the use. — Touch. — Ki7ids of know- 
ledge given by it. — All the se7ises C07i7i€cted with the 7iervous 
syste77i. — Vegetative life. — Relatio7i of the body to the world 
considered. — The at77iosphere.~ Structure of the lu7ig. — 
Ntitrition. — Sleep. — A ni7)ials fitted for particular zo7ies. — 
Ma7ifor all. — No special scie7tces 7ieeded to show our adapta- 
tio7i to the world. — Perso7iality of the Creator i7if erred fro77t 
the provisio7i for ourperso7tality. Antagonis77i in 7iature. 

In the last lecture we indicated something of the 
object aimed at in this course, and the topics to be 
introduced for proof and illustration. We shall first 
attempt to show that provision has been made in 



Principles of Belief. 47 

the material world for every organic being on the 
globe, including man, considered merely as a physi- 
cal being ; and that this provision is of such a 
nature as to show the contrivance and oversight of 
a personal Creator. In the second place, we expect 
to show that no adequate provision is found in the 
material world for man's highest nature, so that a 
written Word is absolutely demanded to make as 
full provision for man as has been made to satisfy 
the capacities and desires of every other creature. 
And in the third place, the question will arise 
how far the Bible can claim to be from the Author 
of Nature, by providing the information which man's 
highest nature demands, and thus becoming just as 
natural a provision for man's higher needs, as the 
sunlight and atmosphere and fruits of the earth are 
for his physical wants. 

Our first work then is to show the nature and per- 
fection of the provision that has been made in the 
world for organic beings, commencing with man as 
the highest. But before proceeding to this examina- 
tion, I ask your attention to the consideration of some 
principles of belief, which must be accepted in all such 
discussions, and to the Bible account, and possible sci- 
entific theories of creation. In the preceding lecture, 
we took it for granted that the nature of the cause may 
be inferred from its effect. The palace must have a 
builder, and something of the character of the design- 
er and builder can be learned from his work. It is 
impossible for us to believe that anything has been 
produced without a cause — that anything can begin 



48 Natural Theology. 

to exist of itself. Everything in the universe must 
either be self-existent or be an effect. If self-exist- 
ent, it must have existed from all eternity ; if an 
effect, it must have been mediately or immediately 
produced by that which is self-existent and eternal. 
We are driven by our analysis back from cause to 
cause till we come to a First Cause, necessarily self- 
existent and eternal. That cause could not spring 
from nothing, and therefore could not begin to be. 
This we are sure of, or nothing can be accepted 
as truth. As we trace back the chain of cause 
and effect, we come necessarily to believe in some- 
thing which is not an effect, but the source of all 
effects. Not to believe in something eternal is sim- 
ply absurd. And that something has produced all 
secondary causes and the results which we see in the 
universe. What was that something .-* Was it simply 
matter and the forces of matter ? So far as we know, 
matter may have existed for ever. There seems 
to be perfect evidence of design in the very consti- 
tution of matter and in the relation of its forces ; but 
still, if one chooses to regard simple matter as eter- 
nal, we see no absurdity in such a belief But we 
then ask, if matter is self-existent, is it able to pro- 
duce all the results which we witness t We know 
that it has not existed always in its present form 
upon our globe. But all the geologic changes, so 
far as mere matter and the physical changes were 
concerned, might have been produced by the action 
of these forces that we acknowledge to be the con- 
stant accompaniments, if not essential properties of 



Origin of Life. 49 

matter. But there was a time when Hfe was not 
here. This will be acknowledged by every geolo- 
gist. Now, life is only manifested in connection with 
organization. Did the vital principle seize upon 
matter, and organize it .'' This would imply that it 
resides somewhere free from matter. Is vitality a 
force accidental in its manifestation, correlated to 
some other force, developed by the relationship of 
different kinds of matter; or was matter first organ- 
ized by a creator, and then life joined to it } There 
are those who accept the second supposition and 
believe in spontaneous generation, the production of 
life from matter and physical forces, and the evolu- 
tion of higher types by development from lower. 
We pass for the present the geologic argument, 
which we believe to be conclusive against this the- 
ory, and ask its supporters how it comes to pass 
that the physical forces tend to originate an organ- 
ism, when the moment it is produced they tend to 
destroy it. And it is a remarkable fact, that some 
authors who have expressed their belief in the pro- 
duction of life through chemical forces, have also 
expressed their belief in the antagonism of life and 
those forces. We leave to them the task of harmo- 
nizing their own views. The organic being strug- 
gles for existence and lives only because the vital 
principle holds in abeyance the physical forces and 
makes them its servants. In a certain sense it is 
true that the physical forces build up all organic 
structures. But the moment vitality is gone, they 
tear down the structure which they have unwillingly 

3 



50 Natural Theology. 

labored to construct under its control, and they cease 
not their work until every particle has taken the 
inorganic form. In the perfectly adjusted steam- 
engine moving the ship against wind and tide, or 
weaving finest fabrics with iron fingers, it seems to 
the thoughtless observer that the steam is a willing 
servant, bending its energies to the work. But the 
mission of the steam is to shatter and destroy. It 
rushes into the cylinder not to move the machinery, 
but in very hatred of itself, and struggles to escape. 
It is the genius of man that controls the struggling 
monster by bands of iron too strong for him to break, 
till in his rage he lifts the piston and moves the 
swift machinery, as he darts howling into the air. 
Thus also does vitality control and use the adverse 
forces of the inorganic world. As well might we 
think that the steam which drives the piston origi- 
nated the locomotive, or the locomotive the engi- 
neer that controls it, as to think that life is the off- 
spring of electricity or any other physical force. It 
is latest born of all the forces, if it is proper to call 
it a force at all ; and the time may come when it will 
vanish from our globe and leave the physical forces 
victors on the field. But while it is here, it holds 
its ground by warfare. It builds up only through 
the agency of physical forces. They build organized 
beings only under its control. "VVe have had of late 
the announcement made that we must expunge from 
our text-books the assertion that the vital principle 
overrides or controls the chemical forces. We may 
expunge it from our text-books, but we might as 



Cause and Effect. 51 

well expunge the satellites of Jupiter or the planet 
Neptune from our astronomies. 

But let us for the sake of the argument grant that 
matter may originate life. As it is impossible for 
us to accept anything as a cause, unless it is ade- 
quate to produce the effect, we look at once for the 
cause of man. We know with certainty that his 
body is produced. Physical man is therefore an 
effect. If matter and the physical forces produce 
life, they must also produce life with all the adjuncts 
which we find in physical man, or his creation is 
still to be accounted for. It is not enough to say 
that a germ was originated by matter, and that germ 
by development became man. To be satisfied with 
this statement is to deceive ourselves with words. 
That germ must have had in it from the beginning 
all the capacity of developing into man. It must 
have been sufficient to produce man. And no one 
can intelligently believe that matter could produce 
such a germ, unless he believes matter could produce 
a man in his highest possible physical and intellec- 
tual development. One result is just as wonderful 
as the other ; one supposition is just as reasonable as 
the other. And any attempt to account for man 
upon this globe from a germ not as wonderful as 
man, and requiring as high creative power, is simply 
illogical and a deceiving of ourselves with sophistry. 
Like an attempt to produce force where no force ex- 
ists, it is worthy of the wildest dreamers of perpetual 
motion. We have now in the Bible a simple account 
of creation. A Great First Cause is introduced. 



52 Natural Theology. 

We are not told that He created matter and ordained 
the manifestation of its forces ; but we are certainly 
left to infer this, since He is represented as produc- 
ing by His command those changes, the introduction 
of light and the gathering of the seas, that we know 
were produced by the operation of these forces. 
According to this account, up to a certain time 
there was simply matter, whether created or eternal, 
passive in the hand of God. When the appointed 
time had come, he joined life to matter. Man was 
first organized in full perfection, and then the breath 
of life was breathed into him. We may reject this 
account ; but it is impossible to find among all the 
speculations with which the world has been favored 
another method of creation more simple or less won- 
derful, viewed simply from a scientific stand-point. 
Having shown that the Bible account of the intro- 
duction of man upon the earth requires no greater 
power than the production of this germ that should 
in the end produce man, we have the same ground 
a priofi, for accepting the Bible account as any other. 
We are not called upon to ignore the Bible, but im- 
partially to compare its teachings with those of na- 
ture, that we may accept or reject its claims. 

And we may say, as the first result of the com- 
parison, that the Bible account of the introduction 
of life upon the globe, and even of the creation of 
man, is as reasonable, when tested by the relations 
of cause and effect, as any theory of creation the 
most orthodox development theorists have ever 
been able to give us. 



Man the Image of God. 53 

If they ask us to grant the creation of a germ 
that in myriads of ages should develop into man, 
we answer that if we accept their method of crea- 
tion, we require the same power to produce the 
result. If they ask us to believe that a germ of 
low type developed into higher types until in ages it 
came to be man, we answer that the very first prin- 
ciples of belief forbid it. It is asking us to believe 
in an effect produced without an adequate cause. 

Among the assertions of the Bible, we find this 
in the very first chapter, that God created the 
heavens and the earth. If matter is eternal, cer- 
tainly all its relations in constituting this world are 
here referred to His wisdom and power. Every 
order of creature was made by Him, and last of all 
man, fashioned in his own image. If this is true, 
and if God is such a being as He is set forth to be 
in the Bible, there are certain things that we should 
naturally expect to find in the universe. If we 
failed to find them, we should so far be led to doubt 
the truth of the record, unless the record itself gave 
notice of the defect and gave a satisfactory reason 
for its occurrence. 

1. If man is the image of God, then he will be 
able in some measure to enter into His plans and 
comprehend His character. 

2. If God is infinite in all His attributes, it would 
naturally be expected that some of His plans would 
be too vast for man to comprehend fully, embracing 
too much of space and requiring too much time for 
their completion. 



54 Natural Theology. 

3. We should expect that all things would show 
design — design of the same kind as the works of 
man would exhibit, and never falling below them in 
perfection. 

4. Man being confessedly the highest type of cre- 
ation on the earth, we should expect that the world 
would be, in a certain sense, created for him, or at 
least that it would have more important relations to 
him than to any other being — that he would be the 
central figure of creation. 

5. We should expect provision to be made not 
only for the body, but for the mind ; or at least we 
should expect as full provision to be made for all 
the powers and faculties of man as has been made 
for the lower animals ; this would involve provision 
for his emotional nature and for unlimited improve- 
ment in all his faculties. 

Finally, we should expect to find man and the 
world fitted for each other, and the same fitness 
running down through the whole order of nature ; 
every animal, and plant, and grain of dust, showing 
evidence of the work of a Being like man — above 
him indeed, but above him only in degree and con- 
dition of existence. 

All this we should expect, if we had never given 
one thought to the study of nature, but were now 
coming to it for the first time to find proof in support 
of the Bible. If we found all these conditions fully 
met, we might well be satisfied with the proof If 
we failed to find them, we should doubt the record ; 
because a book, though claiming to be from God, 



Geology. 55 

is written by man. But the everlasting hills were 
not raised by man. No man can roll back the 
stony tablets of the earth and blot out their record. 
No skill of man can adjust the nice mechanism 
of the living beings now upon earth ; no power of his 
can sustain them for a moment when it is adjusted. 
If there is a God w^ho created all things, we know 
that in nature we can find his handiwork, which all 
the wisdom and strength of men are as powerless 
to create or change as they are to bind the earth 
in its course, or to blot out the sun in the heavens. 

On the other hand, suppose we had never seen or 
heard of a written Revelation, but were possessed 
of all the knowledge of nature we now have, what 
are some of the questions that would be suggested 
to us, and some of the inferences we should draw 
from the world as it is } How came man upon the 
earth } — would certainly be a question that could 
not fail to demand an answer. With our present 
knowledge, the argument of endless succession is 
folly, and its labored refutation by Paley and others, 
mere lumber. Such arguments were needed in the 
day when Paley could say that if asked how a stone 
came upon the heath, he might answer that, for 
aught he knew, it had lain there for ever. But in 
our day, when that stone can be traced back to the 
bed from which it was torn ; when the forces that 
formed it, and those that tore it from its resting- 
place are well understood — we should expect a dif- 
ferent line of argument. In fact, the whole science 
of geology has come in since Paley's day ; a science 



56 Natural Theology, 

not yet perfect, but entirely changing the field of 
argument for or against natural religion. By its 
light we can go back into the dark ages of the globe's 
history, when there was not only no man, but no 
living thing upon the earth. To this all men of sci- 
ence are agreed. This is certainly an important 
point, and makes an important difference in the argu-w 
ment. We can go back to the barren rocks and trace 
in the successive strata rising above them the intro- 
duction of all new forms of life. The only question 
is, how they were introduced, or how they began to 
be. There is no question about the fact of a begin- 
ning. As to the mode of their origin, two diverse 
views are held, one requiring the same creative pow- 
er as the other, as we have already shown, so that 
an a priori argument cannot be made out conclu- 
sively in favor of either. We must rely entirely 
upon facts observed in nature. We are now leaving 
out of view the Bible account, relying solely upon 
nature to tell us of God. And if left entirely to 
nature, we could not see a particle of difference 
between the theory of distinct creations and the so- 
called development theory in proving the existence 
and perfections of God. For we have already shown 
that the creation of a germ that shall develop into 
a perfect being, involves the same creative power as 
the creation of the being itself So the creation of 
a germ that should evolve all created beings in their 
geologic and living order, would require equal skill 
and power with the distinct creation of every speci- 
fic form. If we look at an oak, we see in it evidence 



Origin from a Germ. 57 

of design in every fibre of its wood, in its leaf, its 
flower, and fruit. But that monarch of the forest 
was once represented by a single cell, containing a 
power that was to determine the form of every fibre 
of that tree ; that, by controlling the physical forces, 
was to originate every tissue in the exact order and 
proportion in which it was needed, to determine the 
outline of every leaf, and the form and flavor of the 
fruit. Surely, the evidence of skill and power was 
as great in the creation of that germ as it would be 
in the creation of the full-grown tree in the twin- 
kling of an eye. And the creation of a germ that 
should give origin to trees of every kind, with all 
their adaptations to the world and to the animal 
kingdom, would certainly be as wonderful, and be 
proof of as great skill and power, as the creation of 
the germ of a single oak. The existence of such 
creatures as are found upon the globe is the proof 
of skill and power, and the manner of their origin 
does not in the least affect the question. We are 
to inquire what the creation of all the plants and 
animals now upon the globe, in a single moment, 
would prove in regard to their Creator. And what- 
ever such an instantaneous creation would prove, 
the present creation proves, without regard to the 
time or manner that the species were introduced. 

In our first lecture we stated our case to be like 
that of children, who, on coming to the years of un- 
derstanding, find themselves in a palace perfectly 
furnished for their use, and set themselves to find 
from the provisions of the structure evidence of the 

3* 



58 Natural Theology. 

character of the builder, and of his relationship to 
them. I propose now to apply the same line of 
argument to another purpose, the adaptation of our 
bodies to our use, as well as the adaptation of the 
world to them. It is evident that a castle would, if 
built by a wise designer, have reference to the lo- 
cality in which it was placed. It could only meet the 
wants of its occupants, as its structure should have 
reference to the climate and other conditions of the 
country. In a land of snow and rain, we should 
expect carefully-formed roofs, and only there. We 
should expect windows where light could reach 
them, and in fact all the changes of day and night, 
and change of season to be provided for. We 
should find then certain contrivances which would 
be adapted to our wants in all places, and certain 
other provisions and contrivances having reference 
to the particular condition of the outward world in 
that place. In the same light we may view our own 
bodies, or the world in reference to our bodies. We 
are conscious of our own existence, and that we use 
our bodies. They are as distinct from us as the 
houses we inhabit. They were prepared for us. 
They are not only temples for us to dwell in, but it 
is by means of them alone that we establish rela- 
tions with the external world. So far as the senses 
are wanting, so far the external world is a blank to 
us. As we know from geology that there was a 
time when there was no man on this earth, so we 
know from observation that each one of us must 
die, and that we must crumble back to dust. We 



The Senses. 59 

know that there is nothing in our bodies that can- 
not be found in every spadeful of garden soil. If 
the Bible declares that the first man was made of 
the dust of the earth, science declares that all living 
men are fashioned of the same material. Having 
this knowledge, we are prepared to present certain 
considerations in regard to our bodies, showing their 
adaptation to the world in which we live. And for 
the present we shall regard man simply as a physi- 
cal being, reserving for some future lecture the 
mutual adaptation of the world and the higher 
nature of man. And we care nothing now about 
geologic development theories. We take the fact 
of our own existence as it is, and inquire in re- 
gard to our present relations. Our physical good 
demands that we should have the power of compre- 
hending the world in all the respects in which it is 
possible for matter or its forces to affect our bodies. 
The senses completely meet this want. And we 
wish now to consider the senses simply as a means 
of establishing relations with the external world. 
We are too apt to confine ourselves to the mere 
mecliani&m of the eye or ear, without considering 
how the senses supplement each other, and without 
considering the provision made in the world that it 
may be a fit place for the exercise of the senses. 
The eye would be useless without all the properties 
of light ; the ear would have no power in a world 
without an atmosphere. Sight enables us to avoid 
danger, and seek distant needful objects. What a 
vast length of time and wearisome labor would it 



6o Natw'al Theology. 

require for a blind man to learn what one glance of 
the eye may give to one blessed with sight ! This 
sense also gives certain ideas which the blind could 
never acquire, as of color, transparency, and play of 
light. But of those properties and relations that 
could be learned by the sense of touch, the eye will 
take in more in the landscape in one moment than 
could be otherwise learned in a lifetime. A race 
of blind men could not exist on this globe. 

The sense of sight alone, as a means of adapting 
us to the world, would strike us as wonderful in its 
results, and worthy of the conception of the highest 
intelligence in adapting means to ends, if we knew 
nothing of the adjustments by which sight is se- 
cured. We can conceive of the power of sight as 
direct perception, without the aid of light, or of a 
special organ corresponding to the eye. But con- 
stituted as we are, we see only through the agency 
of light ; and we perceive light only by a special 
organ ; and objects only in consequence of a pecu- 
liar structure of that organ. Of all of these rela- 
tionships of light to objects, and of light to the eye, 
and of the parts of the eye to each other, not one 
of them is a necessary condition of matter. The 
arrangement of so many things by which this won- 
derful power of perceiving distant objects is secured, 
is the only one that will secure the end desired, out 
of an endless number of arrangements that can be 
conceived of The first thing we notice is the rela- 
tion of the light to the atmosphere, by which it bathes 
all objects, unless they are cut off from it by special 



Light Eye. 6i 

obstructions. That is, every particle of the atmo- 
sphere seems to be a point from which light is re- 
flected in all directions in right lines. And every 
object, either in consequence of its reflection or 
absorption of light at every point, forms an image 
at every possible position that can be taken, from 
which straight lines can be drawn to the object. 
And the rays, passing from a multitude of objects 
across each other, never interfere. Even when 
passing through an opening in the shutter, a thou- 
sand objects may be painted on the screen, and yet 
each one be as perfect as though that were the only 
object in the range of vision. The glowing threads 
that weave the gorgeous web of light never tangle, 
and never blend the pictures that they are ever 
forming. Whether we take the proof with the eye 
or with the photographic plate, we find these cross- 
ing lines tracing at the same moment in a thousand 
places the perfect picture of every object on the 
landscape. We cannot but admire the varied forms 
of objects, and the effect of surface in producing 
color, by which distinctness of every part is secured. 
The wisdom and skill of man might be challenged 
to conceive of means more perfect than light in its 
varied relations to matter, to secure distinctness of 
individual objects. No less worthy of admiration 
is the organ through which we are to perceive. 
Whoever contrived it, understood perfectly all the 
properties of light, and the wants of the being that 
was to use it. We might introduce here modifica- 
tions of the eye in the lower animals suited to their 



62 Natural Theology 

special wants. But as we are considering the rela- 
tions of man to the world, we need not pass beyond 
our subject to find arguments for design. The eye 
of man, though limited in its power to a certain 
range, gives all that the common wants of life de- 
mand. And if man needs greater range of vision, 
he has but to study the eye itself, and fashion instru- 
ments to increase its power ; as he is able when the 
proper time has come in his civilization, to increase 
by science and art the efficacy of nearly all his phy- 
sical powers. For the ordinary purposes of life, 
neither telescopic nor microscopic adjustment of the 
eye is needed. 

But the eye has not only the power of vision 
so necessary to man, but it is an instrument of 
power, an instrument made up of distinct parts, of 
solids and liquids, of transparent and opaque tissues, 
of curtains, and lenses, and screens. Its mechanism 
can be accurately examined and the use of each 
part as perfectly understood as any of the works of 
man. We examine every part of it as we would a 
microscope. We have first the solid case which is 
to hold all the machinery, and upon which are to be 
fastened the cords and pulleys of its skilful mount- 
ing. This covering, opaque, white, and glistening, 
like silver on the back and sides of the eye, in front, 
where the light must enter, suddenly becomes trans- 
parent as the clearest crystal. Within this is a 
second coating, that coming to the front changes 
just as suddenly into an opaque screen, through the 
tissues of which no ray of light can pass. That 



Structure of the Eye. 63 

screen is self-adjusting, with a net-work that no art 
of man ever equalled. Whether expanding or con- 
tracting, its opening in the centre always remains a 
perfect circle, adapted in size to the intensity of 
light. How much light shall enter the eye it deter- 
mines without aid from us. Next there must be 
connection with the brain, the seat of the being for 
whom the provision is made. These two coatings 
are pierced upon the back part of the eye, and a 
thread drawn out from the brain is passed through 
this opening and spread out within the eye as a 
delicate screen upon which all impressions are to be 
made. To fill the larger portion of the cavity, there 
is packed into it a clear jelly, and imbedded in this 
a lens, fashioned with a skill that no artist can equal, 
to refract the light and throw the image on the per- 
ceptive screen. In front of this lens is another 
humor, not like jelly as the other, because in this, 
that delicate fringe, the iris, is to float, and nothing 
but a watery fluid will answer its purpose. Here 
then we have a great variety of materials all brought 
together, of the exact quality and in the quantity 
needed, placed in the exact position which they 
ought to occupy, so perfectly adjusted that the most 
that man can do is to imitate the eye without ever 
hoping to equal it. 

Nor is the curious structure of the eye itself all 
that is worthy of our attention. The instrument 
when finished must be mounted for use. A cavity 
is formed in solid bone, with grooves and perfora- 
tions for all the required machinery. The eye, when 



64 Natural Theology. 

placed, is packed with soft elastic cushions and fas- 
tened by strings and pulleys to give it variety and 
rapidity of motion. Its outer case is to cover it 
when not in use, and protect it when in danger. 
The delicate fringe upon its border never needs 
clipping ; and set like a well-arranged defence, its 
points all gracefully turn back, that no ray of light 
may be obstructed. Above the projecting brow is 
another defence to turn aside the acrid fluids from 
the forehead, while near the eye is placed a gland 
that bathes the whole organ with a clear, soothing 
fluid, to prevent all friction and keep its outward 
lens free from dust, and polished for constant use. 
When we consider all this, the perfect adaptation of 
the eye to our wants, the arrangement of every part 
of its structure on strict mechanical and optical 
principles, and all the provisions for its protection, 
we pronounce the instrument perfect, the work of a 
Being like man, but raised immeasurably above the 
most skilful human workman. What shall we say 
when we learn that this instrument was prepared in 
long anticipation of its use ; that there is a machin- 
ery within it to keep it in constant repair ; that the 
Maker not only adjusted the materials, but that he 
was the chemist who formed all these substances 
from the dust of the earth } We may be told that 
the architect found this dust ready at hand, existing 
from all eternity. We may not be able to prove the 
contrary, nor do we need to for this argument. It 
is enough for our present purpose to know that the 
eyes with which we now see, these wonderfully 



Hearing. 65 

complex and perfect instruments, were not long 
since common earth, dust upon which we perchance 
have trod. 

We can understand the mechanism of the eye, 
we can comprehend the wisdom that devised it ; but 
the preparation of materials, and the adjustment of 
parts, speak of a power and skill to which man can 
never hope to attain. When he sees his most cun- 
ning workmanship surpassed both in plan and exe- 
cution, shall he fail to recognise design .'* Shall we 
fail to recognise a builder when we contemplate such 
a work } 

Hearing is the only other sense connected with 
special mechanical contrivance. It is as well adapt- 
ed to its purpose as the sense of sight, although the 
ear in its mechanism may not be so wonderful as 
the eye, and the use of some of its parts more diffi- 
cult of comprehension. Hearing gives us knowledge 
of objects far beyond the reach of vision, when 
thick walls, mountain ranges, and part of the con- 
vex earth divides them from us. It is perfect in 
darkness, when the eye is powerless. This sense is 
affected only by vibrations of the air, and the ma- 
chinery connected with it is adapted to collect them 
and transmit the impression to the inner portion 
of the ear, where the auditory nerve like a watchful 
sentinel waits and watches to telegraph the signals 
to the brain. We are thus warned of danger in the 
distance ; we are invited to enjoyment ; we hold con- 
verse with friends ; and have poured in upon us, for 
our instruction, the mingled sounds of all animate 



66 Natural Theology. 

and inanimate nature. The ear thus beautifully 
supplements the eye in revealing distant objects, and 
thus connecting us with the world in which we live. 

The senses of taste and smell are more intimately 
connected with food ; and the securing and select- 
ing of this are of prime importance in our relations 
to the world. We can gain no knowledge of the 
taste of objects unless they are within our reach, 
and we need none. But odors may be to us a 
means of enjoying distant objects, or of avoiding 
poisons floating in the air. There is no special 
mechanism connected with either. There is simply 
a power. And hardly less wonderful is the power 
of a simple membrane to distinguish the number- 
less flavors and odors, than the most complex ma- 
chinery, although design can only be shown in the 
use of these senses to man in multiplying and per- 
fecting his relations to the world. 

The sense of touch supplements sight, by giving 
us knowledge of solids as distinguished from sur- 
faces, of hardness and temperature. So far as it is 
needed for our protection, it is diffiised over the 
whole body; but for securing certain knowledge it is 
keenest in the finger-tips — in those organs best fit- 
ted to trace out varied surfaces and curious forms. 
When now we group the senses, what a marvellous 
combination! Impressions of objects come darting 
through space on the wings of light, crossing in ten 
thousand lines, yet never mingling. The ear is 
charmed with sounds. Odors and flavors delight 
us, and touch protects from danger, or thrills us 



Vegetative Life. 6/ 

with pleasure. What other knowledge could we 
desire to have of the world of matter which the 
senses do not give ? What other is needed for our life 
or our enjoyment ? We stand in bodies protected by 
the senses, like armies with picket-guards, through 
which nothing can enter without giving the counter- 
sign ; and these guards telegraph to us all know- 
ledge of the outer world. 

We have seen some wonderful instruments that 
indicate the presence of electricity, or change of tem- 
perature. But how all human contrivances sink into 
insignificance when compared with the perceptive 
powers of these bodies, through the combined action 
of the senses ! We recognise the body as but an 
instrument, but its relations to the world through 
the senses is a marvel. It is a tenement w^orthy to 
be the habitation of the being made in the image 
of God. In its relations to the world, there is a 
wisdom and skill manifested worthy of a God. We 
look up to the stars, take in the glories of the land- 
scape, and drink in delicious music, without once 
considering the thousand strings that have been 
adjusted by the Master's hand that there may be 
this divine harmony of adaptation for the whole 
race from age to age. 

The senses are connected with a nervous system, 
or, where no nerves can be detected, with a nervous 
power. Sensation is distinctive of animal life, and 
is the foundation of all the functions of relation. 
But there is in man a vegetative life, by which the 
body is built up and preserved. The functions of 



68 Natural Theology. 

this lower life involve perhaps as perfect and strik- 
ing correspondence between the organs of the body 
and the inanimate world, as has been seen in con- 
nection with the senses. It has long been the cus- 
tom of natural theologians to trace out the mecha- 
nism of the organs of the body which certainly show 
design ; but we propose to direct attention rather 
to the same sort of correspondence between the 
body and the world, which has already been shown 
when treating of the senses. So long as we confine 
our attention to the minute structure of the body, 
the Creator is represented rather as a cunning artif- 
icer. But when we consider the relations of the 
body to the world, we are impressed more with the 
wisdom and benevolence of the Great Architect, and 
we thus gain fuller revelations of His character. 
The investigation requires thought and patience, 
but in the scheme we have marked out we cannot 
omit it. It makes but little difference what relation 
of the body we consider first. For convenience, we 
will take one that is most constant. We must 
breathe. The oxygen of the air is the great chemi- 
cal agent to aid in giving heat, and that constant 
change of material in the body by which strength 
and even life itself are secured. It is a constant 
want ; and to make the world inhabitable, it must be 
everywhere. Water and food may be taken at 
stated intervals, but the air must be ever present. 
We walk in an ocean of it. In deepest caverns, on 
highest mountains, on every foot of the earth, we 
are sure to find air, and always of the same composi- 



The Atmosphere. 69 

tion. Although there are two gases simply mixed 
together, their nature is such that the mixture is 
exactly the same in all parts of the world. No 
chemical analysis can detect a deficiency of either 
element. We may have occasion to point out other 
manifestations of design in the atmosphere, but for 
the present we notice its adaptation to the wants of 
man in the uniformity of its composition and its 
constant presence. But in man we find the lung 
for its reception. What a wonderful organ, ready 
when the first breath of the new-born child is to be 
taken ! It has never been used before ; but it is all 
ready, like the engine when the steam is first thrown 
into it. The opening is there for the air to enter ; 
the thousand tubes wind through the substance till 
it becomes a mere mass of thinnest membrane. 
But all through these delicate linings the arteries 
weave their scarlet, gauzy web, to spread the blood 
to every part, and when the air has wrought its 
change, the thousand veins gather the vital fluid 
and send it back to do its appointed work. Every 
breath involves a combination of mechanical and 
chemical action compared with which the steam- 
engine is a rude machine. The pouring of the 
blood to the lung, and its passage to the heart, and 
all this complex machinery, was adjusted with refer- 
ence to the air. Was it air, think you, that formed 
those channels to bring and carry the vital fluid .'* 
Had it any tendency to adjust them .'* What but 
the wisdom and skill of a High Intelligence could 
contrive so complex but perfect arrangements ; as 



70 Natural Theology. 

perfect before the circulation of the blood was known 
to man as it is now ! He may learn how not to 
interfere with this work of nature, but no contri- 
vance of his can supersede or even change it. 

The body must be nourished. Made of the dust 
of the earth, it must have the power of gathering 
up that dust, and of moulding it into bone and 
sinew and nerve. This is the problem before us. 
To do this directly the body has no power. The 
vegetable kingdom is the channel through which 
the elements are made available for our use. The 
corn and the fruits are so much soil, or so much air 
moulded and flavored to delight us, while they pass 
into the very tissues of our bodies and become a 
part of them. We need not speak now of the com- 
plex machinery nor the mysterious chemistry by 
which the transformations are produced ; but the 
course by which the nerve and muscle of the arm, 
or the delicate materials of the eye, came from 
the dark cold earth into their present living forms, 
we know as well as though we could with the eye 
trace each particle in its complete circuit. The 
sunlight and the showers bring up the precious 
fruits. The stomach of man is adapted to the fruits 
which the earth produces. They are adapted to 
give him life and enjoyment. 

Other adaptations are of importance, though less 
marked. Sleep has an obvious relation to the revo- 
lution of the earth ; our strength to the attraction 
of the earth ; our power of endurance to its temper- 
ature. While other animals are fitted by their 



Structure of the Body. 71 

nature for the zone they are to inhabit, and by the 
process of moulting for the change of seasons, man, 
made to wander over the whole earth, to change 
his place rapidly, has no fixed provision for his 
protection. He is left to clothe himself, and thus 
to fit himself at any time for any place on this earth 
of which he is the lord and ruler. 

We find our bodies then wonderfully adapted to 
our wants, to give us a knowledge of the world and 
minister to our pleasure. Things are fitted for their 
use. We want no chemistry and no anatomy to 
tell us this. It would be just as apparent to a rea- 
sonable being that the body of man is fitted for its 
work, adapted to the world and adapted to the 
intelligent being that inhabits the body, though he 
had never looked beneath the skin and knew nothing 
of the curious chemical changes in the body, as it 
would to the best anatomist and physiologist in the 
world. We know that our eyes are fitted for sight, 
our ears for hearing, our limbs for walking, our 
tongues for speech, and our hands for cunning 
work. If we can look upon a little child when first 
waking to consciousness of a new world, or upon a 
trained man in the fulness of his strength, and not 
feel that there is a perfect adaptation of means to 
ends to bring the person into proper relations to 
this world in which it is to dwell, then the scalpel 
may remain in its case, and the crucible of the 
chemist may remain cold. They can simply multi- 
ply proof, but they can never present any proof 
higher in kind than we have without them. It may 



72 Natural Theology. 

be said that they show more special contrivance in 
the structure of the body, and that the principle of 
perfect adaptation is continued to the last analysis 
of every organ and every process ; and this is true. 
But if this adaptation is not seen and recognised 
as proof of an intelligent Creator at the outset, 
then it never will be seen. When you fairly come 
to the edge of the ocean, if your friend cannot see 
it, he never will, though he sail a thousand leagues 
upon it. If we see that man is fitted to this world, 
the question naturally arises, was he fitted to a 
world eternally existing, or was the earth made in 
reference to him } The earth was before man, that 
is, before his body. His body was either fashioned 
to the existing world, or the world was all pre- 
arranged in reference to the being that should be 
placed upon it. Either of these suppositions implies 
design, and would be enough to establish the exist- 
ence of a Personal Creator. There is a great deal 
of discussion as to what constitutes personality. 
But man is a person, and his wants have been fully 
understood and provided for. Grant, if you please, 
that we existed from all eternity, and that it is only 
in connection with the body that we become con- 
scious ; still, we find ourselves with these bodies 
which we did not prepare. We know that we have 
no more direct power over the structure and growth 
of our own bodies, or of our offspring, than we have 
over the bodies of other persons. The body of the 
savage is as perfect in all its parts as the body of 
him who can number every bone and locate every 



Perfect Macldnery. 73 

nerve. The knowledge implied in the structure of 
our bodies, which fits them so perfectly to our 
wants, is the same in kind as we possess, but infi- 
nitely higher in degree. It is of the same kind, 
because vve can understand the work and approve 
of it. It is higher, because we feel conscious that 
we never could have devised it. 

We need not spend time in pointing out the exact 
adaptation of each part of the body, in form, to its 
function. Every part is so well adapted to its office, 
that no contrivance of man could improve it. He 
can discover no new principle in science that might 
have been introduced to better advantage. We do 
not suppose that the most ardent believer in human 
improvement expects the time will ever come when 
human science can suggest a single improvement in 
the micchanical structure or chemical laboratory of 
the human system. This wonderful machine is a 
model towards which he can always work, but which 
he can never equal. This he is ready to acknow- 
ledge, whatever may be his belief as to how it came 
into existence. The more we dissect and examine, 
the more every part meets our commendation. We 
would not dare to alter a single joint, nor add a 
nerve or tendon ; and when the chemical or vital 
process is beyond our ken, as it often is, the result 
worked out in the healthy body is the exact result 
which is needed for the perfection of the machine. 
We feel sure that the hidden machinery is wisely 
adjusted, although so minute as to be beyond the 
reach of our microscopes. We have first a frame- 

4 



74 Natural Theology. 

work of the best materials we could desire, every 
piece made on mathematical principles, all parts 
formed and joined so as to secure the greatest 
strength and motion where most needed ; so formed 
as to protect the most important organs, and to give 
attachment to the hundreds of cords that are to give 
it motion, perforated here and there for the nerves 
and arteries. Some of these nerves are taken from 
the control of the will, but only those which are 
necessary for carrying on the vital processes These 
might become a burden to man, or he might abuse 
them. The heart asks no leave of us to beat. These 
bands of telegraphic wires are all bound into symme- 
trical wholes and covered to protect them from inju- 
ry, and yet not so covered as to impede their action, 
or to shut off from the external world those that are 
needed to establish relations with it. The body, 
thus wonderfully arranged, is ever kept in order by 
its own machinery. From one central organ, the 
stomach, is carried to every part of the system, not 
only material enough to make all repairs, but, most 
marvellous of all, just the kind of material which is 
needed. If lime is wanted, lime is carried. If silica 
is the required substance, silica is never wanting. 
If iron, or carbon, or chlorine, or any other element 
is required, wonderful to tell, at the appointed time, 
without thought on our part, that element is select- 
ed and sent to its appointed place. Every worn 
piece is carefully removed, made, perhaps, to sub- 
serve some secondary use for a time, but finally it is 
thrown from the machine, while a new piece takes 



Personality of the Creator. 75 

its place. The machine never wears out, but run- 
ning a certain round, finishes the work for which it 
was made. 

And this is the machine some would have us be- 
heve to be the work of chance, or a sort of accumu- 
lation of improvements like the steam-engine, with 
this important difference, that while the steam-engine 
is the result of all the mechanical skill the greatest 
men of the world have been able to bring to bear 
upon it, the human body, thousands of years ago 
just as perfect as it now is, has become what it is with- 
out a personal architect. If one can believe this, 
we have no controversy with him. We frankly ac- 
knowledge that we have no proof that we believe 
will satisfy him. We do not expect him to believe 
in a God, and of course not in a Bible. We say 
that his mind runs in such a channel, and his 
standard of proof is such, that we can have no- 
thing in common in science, and nothing in reli- 
gion. But if, on the other hand, when we know 
that there was an era in the history of this globe 
when man came to exist for the first time ; when 
we consider all the adaptations of this body to 
our use, without any contrivance or thought on 
our part ; when we find this machine kept in con- 
stant working order, doing its own repairs, complet- 
ing a given round of labor, if the conditions only 
are observed ; when we see all this, if compelled by 
the very law of our being to believe that these bodies 
are the contrivance of a personal Creator, then we 
have a starting-point. Then we are prepared to 



"]6 Natural Theology. 

show the proof of the handiwork of the same Being 
in every department of nature — we are prepared for 
the possibiUty of a written Word, and of His con- 
stant government and control of His works. If we 
do not see in all this proof of the existence of such 
a Being, then further search in nature is useless. 
We must admit the existence of a Being before we 
can intelligently seek to understand His character 
and relations. Throwing aside all study of nature 
as useless, there may, indeed, be metaphysical spe- 
culations in regard to the existence of God ; but 
all natural theology and natural religion, as these 
terms are now understood, vanish. The human 
mind, even, would not be absolute proof of the ex- 
istence of such a Being ; for it, according to the 
speculations of Plato, may have existed from all 
eternity. It is the body alone that we know began 
to be ; and in its perfect adaptation to our personali- 
ty, created or uncreated, must we find our first argu- 
ment for a personal Creator, and in the provisions 
made for it, the first indications of His fatherly care. 
But the adaptation of the body to the world and its 
physical forces is not perfect. There is pain and 
premature death, an absolute struggle for existence. 
And this antagonism is plainly not necessary in the 
nature of things. We shall endeavor, in some future 
lectures, to show that the world, with all its antago- 
nisms, is best for man as he is. His physical nature 
is rendered liable to suffer, by the very constitution 
of things, for the benefit of his moral nature, to 
which the physical is subservient. But why, we 



Physical Antagonism. yy 

may still ask, was it necessary that there should be 
such an antagonism, that the higher nature could 
reach its fullest development only through the labor, 
and pain, and suffering, of the lower nature ? We do 
not believe such an antagonism was necessary, al- 
though we must acknowledge that it does exist. It 
does not come within the scope of these lectures to 
discuss the theories of these antagonisms, how 
they were produced, nor their ultimate tendency. 
We are content to take man and the world as we 
find them, and attempt to show that this physical 
antagonism works out for man in his present imper- 
fect state a higher good. 



LECTURE III. 

ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE WORLD BY STRUC- 
TURE, FUNCTION, AND INSTINCT. 

Adaptation of Animals to the World. — Special adaptations. 
— Cha?tce excluded. — Man as a physical being differs 07ily in 
degree. — His sources of enjoyment co7npiex. — In ani?nals 
nothing but adaptations to this world. — Whole classes to be 
treated of — Water Ani?nals. — Microscopic. — Coral Ani- 
?nals. — Jelly fishes. — Starfishes. — Mollusks. — Perfect pro- 
vision for each form. — The Pinna. — Saxicavas. — Nautilus. 
— Worms. — Crustaceans. — Insects. — Fishes. — Reptiles. — 
Birds. — Maminals. — Fitted for change of season. — Hiber- 
nation. — Relation to length of year. — histinct. — Suppie- 
7nents structure and function. — Gives higher tyPe of life. 
— Defijied. — Intelligence in Aniinals. — Vegetative life in 
Animals. — Relation of instinct to specific structure. — The 
Natica. — Instinct often blind in its action. — The Cicada. — 
Tent nioth. — Migration of fishes. — Conscious parental 
relation in birds. — Uniformity of action resulti?tg from 
instinct. — Wide range of instinct in Mammals — The 
Muskrat. — Instinct of the young suppiomnted by that of 
the parejit. — The body and mind fitted for each other. 

We have thus far considered man merely as an 
animal ; and, as such, we have seen the adaptation 
of his body to the world in which he lives. 

His physical structure, and the nature and power 
of his senses, show that he was either adapted by 
creation to this globe already existing, or that the 
globe was fashioned and placed as it now is in anti- 
cipation of the being that was to inhabit it. It is 



Harmony of Adaptation. 79 

impossible to consider the mutual relations of man 
as a physical being, and this world, to each other 
without recognising design in the varied adjustments 
— design involving the highest wisdom to devise, 
the greatest skill to execute, and showing the 
greatest benevolence as characteristic of the de- 
signer. 

It was impossible for us to trace this relationship 
without having thrust upon us the varied adaptations 
having reference to a higher nature than is possessed 
by any mere animal. This higher nature of man 
requires a separate discussion ; but for the present 
we pass to the consideration of the lower forms of 
animal life, and of the vegetable kingdom, to show 
their adaptations to the world, the adaptations of the 
two kingdoms to each other, and of the parts of 
each individual to meet its own wants and neces- 
sities. 

We have among the lower animals all the general 
adaptations which we find in man, but varied accord- 
ing to the peculiar position which the animal is to 
occupy. It is impossible to study any one of them 
without constantly learning more and more of the 
perfection of its relations to the world. Each one '' 
is not only provided for in general, as an animal, 
but he is specially provided for as that particular 
kind of animal. It is impossible to point out one 
in which continued observation has not detected 
increased harmony of adaptation between the world 
and the wants of the animal, as determined by the 
very idea of his structure. When we have so far 



8o Natural Theology. 

understood the structure of an animal as to feel that 
we have reached the fundamental idea in his creation, 
we expect all subsequent study will realize that idea 
more perfectly. If the fundamental idea is a fish, 
an animal to live in water, and breathe by gills, then 
every possible variation which we can find will never 
be a defect, but some modification of the leading 
plan for carrying out more fully the main idea in 
connection with some special condition of life. No 
kind can be found so apparently abnormal in form as 
not to show wisdom in its fitness for some particular 
condition of life ; no modification of organs so 
strange, that the naturalist will not look at once for 
its purpose, and expect to find conditions of life for 
that animal fully indicating the wisdom of the change 
in structure. Since there is perfect adaptation for 
each species and each variety, the number of forms 
specially provided for thus becomes so great, that 
anything like chance is excluded. That five 
hundred thousand different kinds of beings could 
be perfectly provided for, so that the ingenuity of 
man cannot suggest a single improvement in refer- 
ence to any one of them, not only proves design ori- 
ginating from a high intelligence, but leaves no plau- 
sible ground for any other explanation. 

We have seen that the world is either fitted for 
man as a sentient being, or he is so adapted to it 
as to secure enjoyment by the very process of 
living. In this respect he does not differ essen- 
tially from the other members of the animal king- 
dom. But his enjoyment as a physical being 



Relations of Classes, 8i 

is so linked with that enjoyment which the world in 
all its relations secures to his higher, intellectual, 
and moral nature, that it becomes as difficult to 
separate one source of enjoyment from the other 
and assign the exact proportion to each nature, as it 
is to separate those natures from each other in their 
wonderful blending in the constitution of man. 
There is, therefore, a certain distinctness gained 
when treating of the adaptations of the lower ani- 
mals to the world, which it is impossible to secure 
when treating of the complex being, man. In the 
lower animals we find nothing beyond adaptations 
to this world. They are physical beings only. 
There is nothing to be eliminated. On the other 
hand, we can learn the completeness of their adapta- 
tions only by observation. For our experience is 
rendered an imperfect standard on account of this 
very complexity of our nature. 

We propose in the remainder of this lecture to 
treat mainly of those relationships by which whole 
classes of animals are fitted to the world, and re- 
serve for a distinct chapter many of those special 
adaptations by which particular species or varieties 
are fitted for unusual conditions. But in treating 
of the adaptations of animals to the world, we must 
include their general relationships to each other, 
because their very existence often depends upon 
such relationships. 

The waters are the home of a large proportion 
of the animal kingdom. In them we find a vast 
range of animal life beyond the reach of ordinary 



82 Natural Theology. 

vision. The microscope may open wonders in a 
drop. And when we multiply the multitudes of 
animate beings that dart across the microscopic 
field by the drops in the pool or on the ocean's sur- 
face, from which our drop was taken, computation 
is impossible and imagination fails to conceive of 
the numbers that swarm upon the earth. What 
variety in form, what varied structure and mode of 
life are found among these atoms of the animal 
kingdom ! We cannot expect yet to understand all 
their uses and relations. But not one can be found 
that has not perfect adaptation to the place it 
inhabits. It glides or rows through the yielding 
element apparently as intent on pleasure, certainly 
as intent on securing the means of living, as the 
highest tribes of land or water. There is adapta- 
tion of means to ends in the structure of each one 
of this multitude of different forms, so that we might 
find evidence of design even in the structure of 
organisms so minute and simple as these. But if 
they were all of one form, and that the most simple 
which can be found among them, we should still 
recognise in their very existence an evidence of 
wise design in the adjustments of the different 
ranks of the animal kingdom. They confessedly 
stand at the lowest step of sensitive life. They have 
wonderful powers of multiplication. They or their 
germs may even float in the air, so that multitudes 
are ready to spring into existence wherever the 
proper conditions of their life can be found. And 
if we believed, with some, in their spontaneous 



Radiate Animals. 83 

generation, we should still consider their perfect 
adaptation in the scale of organic beings as evidence 
of design. Many of them are so minute that they 
can feed upon nothing but organic solutions or the 
finest forms of organic matter just ready to decom- 
pose and pass into inorganic gases. They thus 
stand ever between the organic and inorganic 
world, the lowest scavengers of nature, to live upon 
its organic particles, while they themselves be- 
come the food of other larger and higher forms of 
animal life, and they of others, until the mighty 
whale, the largest animal on the globe, and man, the 
highest in rank, both are indirectly indebted for a 
portion of their food to the labors of these unseen 
atoms of life that turn back inorganic matter into 
higher channels, preventing the formation of poi- 
sons and ministering to the wants of higher beings. 

Rising one step higher, we have the great divi- 
sion of radiate animals, the builders of coral domes 
and islands — the soft jelly-fishes and the starfish 
tribe. This group alone will furnish material for 
study for ages to come, but enough is now known 
of its general adaptations to excite the wonder of 
every naturalist. 

One little body floating through the water fastens 
on some solid substance, and straightway, by the very 
law of its growth, a coral tree or coral dome begins 
to rise. He divides and subdivides or buds till the 
community numbers thousands. And to each kind 
is given a distinct form. And these forms so mingle 
together that coral reefs rise above the ocean and 



84 Natural Theology, 

become islands for the abode of man. These Uttle 
animals, of varied form and of varied nature, are all 
fitted to some condition of the ocean. The waters 
bring them their food and the materials of which 
their reefs and islands are formed. Amidst the con- 
stant rolling waves they find their appropriate home. 
They have power to gather their food from the clear 
waters, and, by the very law of their growth, to 
chisel from the overburdened sea the invisible 
blocks of which their Titanic masonry is composed. 
What infinite skill was required to adjust all these 
kinds to their appropriate places, and to fit them for 
their appointed work ! 

Nearly allied to the coral builders are the jelly- 
fishes, many of them apparently but little more than 
vitalized water. But among them we find the same 
perfection of adaptation. One floats through the 
water by the gentle pulsations of its whole body, 
another cuts it with hundreds of glistening cilia, 
and others still float by air-sacs and are wafted by 
the winds. Each has its own habits of life, and 
each has a structure and mode of locomotion fitted 
to its wants. The means are entirely different, but 
they in each case secure the end in scuh a manner as 
meets our approbation. We feel that all the adjust- 
ments are complete, that the animal has been per- 
fectly provided for. 

The starfish tribe would at first sight seem to be 
most helpless. But one who has seen the Echinus 
climbing smooth rocky walls with his delicate sucker 
feet, or the starfish folded around the oyster or mus- 



Mo Husks. 85 

sel, which, notwithstanding their stony shells, fall an 
easy prey to him, will never cease to wonder at the 
adaptations of means to ends among these apparently 
unfortunate and imperfect members of the animal 
kingdom. Each member of this group might be 
selected as a special study and important link in 
our proof; but it is enough for our present purpose 
to see that here there has been no less care and no 
less wisdom manifested in creation than among the 
higher tribes. 

The next grand division in the animal kingdom is 
the mollusk or shell-fish. The most careless obser- 
ver is struck with the variety and beauty in color, 
form, and finish, exhibited in a cabinet of shells. 
But the shells, beautiful as they are, and full of 
instruction as they are to the careful observer, are 
still but the mere outward coverings, and are no 
more to be compared with the animals that secreted 
them than the case of a Avatch is to the perfect com- 
bination of wheels and springs which it incloses. 
We are almost necessarily compelled here to depart 
somewhat from our prescribed course, for it is by a 
multitude of special adaptations that this grand 
division is fitted for the varied condition and mode 
of life so noticeable amono; its different members. 
What different forms of shells may be found upon a 
single beach ; and for every form of shell there is a 
distinct animal structure and mode of life ! But for 
each one shall be found as perfect adaptation in its 
structure and instincts, as though that were the 
only shell-fish in existence. They may be so unlike, 



S6 Natural Theology. 

that one form shall not even suggest another to us ; 
but when each one is presented, it perfectly^ com- 
mends itself to our judgment in all its relations. 
The pinna was made for the waves, and her wide, 
thin shells would seem to be the sport of the waters. 
But she spins long silken cords, beautiful and strong, 
and with these glossy cables anchors herself securely. 
The saxicavas bore into the corals and solid rocks 
to form a secure resting-place. The myas and kin- 
dred tribes bury themselves in sand. The pearly 
nautilus finds water-tight compartments built in his 
tiny vessel by the very law of his growth. Before 
the Argonauts sailed, or the ark floated upon the 
waters, this modern invention of ship-building was 
freely used in adapting shells to the wants of their 
occupants. 

Another group, not less remarkable for complex- 
ity of relation, are the articulates. The earth-worm 
that gropes in the soil, the crustacean of the waters, 
and the countless host of insects, make up this 
grand division of the animal kingdom. The earth- 
worm is perfectly fitted for his mode of life. His 
brothers, made to inhabit the ocean, are perfectly 
adapted to that place. Some move freely, well pro- 
vided with organs of locomotion, while others secrete 
for their protection a solid tube of lime, exposing 
only those organs used in securing food and purify- 
ing the blood. The study of each one of these low 
forms of life shows a distinct but beautiful adapta- 
tion of means to ends ; a perfect provision for these 
humble beings. The crustaceans are the most 



Articulates. 87 

active scavengers of the ocean. They show wis- 
dom and skill indeed in the perfect joints and varied 
arrangements of the shelly armor with which they 
are clothed ; but we recognise a higher purpose and 
more comprehensive relation in the work they were 
appointed to accomplish — the purification of the 
waters by the swift destruction of all decaying ani- 
mal substances found in them. They have been 
aptly called the insects of the ocean. 

Among the insects proper we have another 
exhaustless list of special adaptations. But one who 
had never studied their structure or instincts for a 
single day, could not fail to recognise their general 
adaptation to the world. It is thrust constantly 
upon the attention of the most careless observer. 
He may not know how the thing is done, but he 
cannot fail to see that it is done. Thousands of 
different kinds swarm around him ; some making day, 
and others night, the time of their activity. He may 
regard many of therrf as pests, but the very fact 
that they defy all his schemes for their destruction, 
shows that they are provided for by nature ; and 
so provided for, that the combined efforts of all 
the men in the world could not extirpate a single 
insect species. Some live in water, some on 
land ; some fly by day, some by night, and some 
never fly at all. Some feed upon the honey of 
flowers, some upon the vilest refuse of the sham- 
bles ; some upon living plants, others only upon 
dead, woody fibre. More than a hundred thousand 
different kinds are known. In this vast multitude 



8S Natural Theology. 

of species, what varied forms and natures, what 
varied instincts and relations to other beings ; and 
yet each general and special adaptation is perfect in 
harmonizing all their wants with the structure, the 
instincts, and relations of this vast host. 

The highest type, and that which foreshadowed 
man when it first appeared upon the earth, are the 
vertebrates. It embraces the fishes, the reptiles, 
the birds, and mammals. These higher forms of 
life are well known, and each type suggests great 
beauty of adaptation. What is more perfect in its 
kind than a fish — the salmon, or the shark ! What 
architect or artist would have the presumption to 
suggest a better model! How form and fin are 
fitted for the element in which the animal is to live ! 
The feathery gills float in the water and sweep out 
oxygen to purify the blood. The eye is fitted to 
light coming through the water. And correspond- 
ing to every varied instinct, there is change of form 
to perfect the adaptation. 

The loathsome reptile is not less perfect in his 
kind, though to us often an object of abhorrence. 

The snake, without feet, darts like an arrow, and 
crushes his prey by tightening folds. And most of 
the reptilian tribe, unable to supply their wants in 
winter, bury themselves in dens or mud, and nature 
kindly puts her benumbing hand upon them, and 
reduces or suspends the vital action till the return- 
ing spring gives them another scene of activity. 

In the birds, we have an entirely distinct type, 
but how perfect in its kind ! Aside from the gene- 



Birds — Mammals. 89 

ral adaptation by which the bird occupies a distinct 
place in the animal kingdom, there are nmnberless 
special adaptations apparent here, by which every 
species is fitted for its peculiar condition of life. 
The form of the bird is as perfect for the air as that 
of the fish is for the water. 

Its bones are hollow, to give it lightness. Its 
lung capacity is increased to meet the great draft 
made upon its powers in flying. To give it strength 
of flight, the muscles are thickened and strengthen- 
ed, absolutely piled up, around the base of the 
wing. Need I speak of the fine adjustment of 
every feather, the eagle's eye, and the varied form 
of foot and bill to meet the different instincts and 
conditions of life } 

Among the mammals, we find the highest forms 
approaching man in perfection, and therefore pre- 
senting those general adaptations which we have 
already considered when treating of him. But 
there are curious forms and varied conditions of 
life which demand relations entirely distinct from 
those found in man. The mole is made to pierce 
the earth, the whale to sport in the waters, the 
elephant for the jungles of the torrid zone, the white 
bear for the icebergs of the polar seas ; — each one 
is fitted by instinct, power of endurance, and struc- 
ture, for the place he is to occupy. 

The otter is fitted for both land and water, and 
has a coat that the water never penetrates. The 
seal has no protection against the water from his 
fur ; but he and the whale are both clothed with a 



90 Natural TJieology. 

thick layer of blubber beneath the skin, giving pro- 
tection from the cold and buoyancy in the waters. 
This burden of fat, which would weigh down a land 
animal, is a float to one moving only in the ocean. 

Thus we find one animal perfectly fitted for bur- 
rowing in the earth, and he comes out smooth and 
unsoiled as does the mole from the sand and dirt. 
One delights in heat, another can endure nothing 
warmer than icy water or the iceberg itself. The 
walrus and seal, the whale, the polar bear and rein- 
deer, all find a home in the icy north, and each has 
a mode of life and structure peculiar to itself But 
the form, the organic structure, the food, the adapta- 
tion to climate, and the instincts, all harmonize. 
Each animal is a study by itself ; each one is won- 
derful in the harmony of its relations to the world. 

Not only are animals fitted for every zone, but by 
their organic structure or functional change they 
are fitted for the change of seasons. As winter 
approaches. Nature thickens the coating of fur ; and 
when spring returns, she plucks out the surplus 
coating to fit them for the summer months. For 
those animals, like the bat, the marmot, and the 
bear, whose food fails in the winter. Nature pro- 
vides as for the reptiles already mentioned. They 
enter their dens as winter approaches, and a deep 
sleep falls upon them ; a sleep by which the vital 
action is changed. The circulation becomes slow, 
the temperature of the body lowered, and the ani- 
mal, with its vitality reduced to the lowest point, 
lives upon its own fat till spring calls him forth 



Hibej'nation. 9 1 

again to new supplies of food and new enjoyments. 
Without this provision these animals would perish 
in a single winter, and the species become extinct. 
But Nature has not left them unprovided for. 
Their vitality is like a burning lamp. In winter the 
wick is turned down so that the spark of life may 
remain, and that is all. This hibernation is no 
ordinary sleep ; it is peculiar, and it is something 
over which the animal has no more control than he 
has over the change of seasons. 

In these general adaptations, we must not forget 
the relationship of these animals to the length of 
the year. Were the winter essentially longer than 
it now is, these hibernating animals could not sur- 
vive, excepting those rendered quite torpid like 
some of the reptiles. Those animals that lay up 
stores of food for winter would find themselves in 
want. The thickening of the coat and its loss are 
not the effect of cold and heat, but a change in the 
system whose machinery has been adjusted to the 
clock-work of the stars. 

We come now to speak of a new principle of 
adaptation which has been only incidentally re- 
ferred to. Thus far, we have spoken mainly of 
fixed relations ; those growing out of form, anatomi- 
cal differences, and functional peculiarities. In 
regard to all these, the animal is like a plant, plas- 
tic in the hands of Nature and entirely passive. 
He is thrown into the world with a certain struc- 
ture externally and internally, and to this structure 
he must conform in some measure, necessarily. 



92 Natural Theology. 

The mole cannot pursue insects in the air, nor the 
whale seek his food upon the land. The structure 
of both determines where they must live. But in 
addition to the peculiar structure and functions of 
each animal, by which, like a plant, he is fitted to 
the world, there is given to each one an instinct in 
harmony always with his structure, by which he 
becomes an active thinking agent, and thus volun- 
tarily adapts himself more perfectly to the world. 
Instinct simply supplements structure and func- 
tions, putting them to the best use, and making a 
higher type of life possible than could be manifested 
by structure and function alone. The bee has a 
structure fitting it for gathering honey, and the 
rings of the body have the function of secreting 
wax. Instinct is needed to impel the bee to gather 
the honey, and to form the scales of wax into the 
honey-comb. And it is impossible to conceive of 
any complexity of structure in the bee, or perfection 
of function by which the varied results of the bee- 
hive could be secured. But instinct, utilizing the 
structure and function, exactly harmonizing with 
them, secures perfect results — most admirable adap- 
tations. 

We wish now to inquire more fully what this 
instinct is, and how far it is proof of design in the 
creation of these animals. We have no intention 
of completing the subject here, for we must refer to 
instinct again, in treating of special adaptations and 
the mutual relations of the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms to each other. 



histinct. 



93 



Instinct may be defined to be that principle of 
action implanted in the animal by which he provides 
for himself, and the continuance of the species. It 
controls the animal. He acts under its guidance 
always in a uniform manner under the same condi- 
tions, and without instruction. If there comes to 
be any variation or apparent change in this instinct, 
it is for a specific purpose ; and the change or modi- 
fication of instinct is as much under law as the 
change in form and structure by which new varieties 
are originated from the same species. It is this 
uniformity of instinct that gives uniformity of action 
to the same species of animals all over the world. 
It determines what the animal shall be as a sentient, 
voluntary agent. This description might be enlarg- 
ed, but I am inclined to .think it covers instinct 
proper. 

Although it is difficult to draw the dividing line, 
we must recognise in some animals an intelligence 
distinct from instinct, and higher ; an intelligence 
by which they enter into certain relations to man, 
comprehend his wishes, understand his commands, 
and form attachments to him. They must have a 
degree of intelligence to understand so fully as some 
of them do intelligent man. If any choose to say 
that we have here simply higher manifestations of 
instinct, then we must enlarge our definition ; for 
many things comprehended and done by domesti- 
cated animals are neither necessary for their own 
existence, nor for the continuance of the species. 
When the watch-dog guards his master's treasure, it 



94 Natural Theology. 

is for man and not for himself that the work is 
done. 

There is in all animals an organic or vegetable 
life, which they have in common with the plants. 
In the lowest forms of animal life we can hardly 
recognise anything higher than this organic and 
functional action. There is certainly but the mere 
glimmering of instinct needed, because in the lowest 
types structure and function can complete the adap- 
tation of the animal to the world without the inter- 
vention of volition. What needs the oyster more 
than the plant } So far as we can judge, it has no 
more conscious relation to its young than the tree 
has to its seed. The production of its young is 
simply the result of organic change, the law of its 
growth, like the budding and blossoming of the tree. 
The movement of the shell seems to be voluntary. 
Certain it is that volition is reduced to its minimum, 
and consequently instinct, since instinct is always 
connected with volition. We must, then, in animals 
of such low type, recognise mainly adaptation of 
structure and function. But, one step higher in this 
division of animals, we see marked cases of the rela- 
tion of instinct to specific structure — the absolute 
necessity of the combination of the two to secure 
the well-being of the animal. The Natica, a shell- 
fish found on our coast, can hunt his prey in the 
sand. He feeds upon other shell-fish, sometimes 
upon his own kind. He is armed with a long, rasp- 
like tongue, and instinct teaches him to use it, in 
piercing the shell that is closed in vain against 



Provision for the Yotmg. 95 

him. Without this instrument he would be power- 
less ; with it he would be just as powerless without 
the instinct to use it as he does. But the instru- 
ment and the instinct combined constitute an im- 
portant adaptation of the animal to the world. 
They are evidently as much the parts of the same 
plan as are the different organs by which the vital 
processes are carried on. 

It is only when we come to those animals where 
provision for their young calls instinct into play, that 
it becomes most marked ; though in many cases we 
are compelled to believe that the acts of the parent 
in providing for its young are no more understood 
by that parent as having relation to its young, than 
the tree consciously provides for its flower when it 
folds it in the bud. Certain acts were needed to 
carry out fully what organs and functions commenced 
but could not complete. A blind impulse is upon 
the animal to perform those needed acts. And that 
impulse we call instinct ; an impulse of a voluntary 
agent indeed, but an impulse so strong that it 
becomes like a wheel in machinery, which is so im- 
portant that it makes the machine what it is, and 
without it all would fail. There is, on the part of 
the animal, will to do the act ; but, so far as we can 
see, no desire to refrain from doing, and oftentimes 
no more knowledge why the thing is done, than 
there is in the flower when it bends itself towards the 
light. What knows the cicada, the so-called seven- 
teen-year locust, that has burrowed as a grub in the 
earth for half a human generation, when it comes 



96 Natural Theology. 

forth to deposit its o.^^ in the hmb of the oak, that 
in due time, after her own death, her young will find 
their resting-place in the earth ? She obeys a blind 
impulse. The limb is pierced and the ^g^ deposited. 
She has by instinct made use of both structure and 
function of organs, and thus completed her adapta- 
tion to the world in preserving the species. This is 
only one instance from a great number in which the 
parent never sees its young, and never can see them, 
and yet provides completely for them. 

And the young cicadas that hatch from those eggs 
after their parents have perished and disappeared, 
find their way to the earth, and there, under the 
guidance of this instinct, provide for themselves ; 
Nature taking care that the development of all the 
thousands shall progress so uniformly, that when 
seventeen years have passed away, on a given 
day they are all ready to come forth for their few 
gala-days of life. As they come forth only at the 
end of seventeen years, and then live only a few 
days, it is necessary for the preservation of the 
species that they should all come forth at the same 
time. They are like ten thousand chronometers all 
set to run seventeen years, and all the changes in 
form are accompanied by change in instinct, so that 
when the years have revolved, structure and instinct 
have completed their work, and the ten thousand 
chronometers are all found in perfect adjustment. 

The tent-moth also lays her eggs upon the apple- 
twig, closely packed and varnished to protect them 
till the warmth of spring wakes the young to life, 



Tent-Moth-^Fishes. 97 

when the new leaf is ready for their food. But the 
mother dies when her instinct has completed the 
relations by which the species is to be continued. 
While forests of trees invited her by their slender 
twigs, on no tree did she put an ^g^ that would not 
the next spring put forth a leaf fitted for the food 
of her young. 

Many fishes make long journeys to deposit their 
eggs in places fitted for their progeny ; and when 
that work is done, parental solicitude ceases. The 
parent returns to the ocean, and the young fish, 
when hatched and grown to the proper size, knows 
the way to the great deep as well as though its pa- 
rent had remained to act as guide. Nay more, it 
knows when and where to go, as by a divine know- 
ledge. The thousands that go out for the first time 
find their feeding-grounds, and never forget to return 
when the time comes for them to deposit their spawn. 
Some species seek the cold, and some the warm 
waters. Some seek the fresh streams, and some the 
salt ocean ; each one seeks the proper condition for 
its young, which it is never to see, and to which it 
probably has no conscious relation. The impulse 
is upon it, and it obeys. It leaves its accustomed 
haunts, where would seem to be the most natural 
place for breeding, and seeks out a far distant loca- 
tion to which instinct guides it. This impulse was 
given to complete its relation to the world, and is 
the same evidence of design as the form of the fin 
or the structure of the gill. The wisdom of the de- 
sign and the skill of the designer are shown by the 

5 



98 Natural Theology. 

perfection with which instinct supplements function, 
and thus completes the adaptation of each species 
to the world. . 

In the bird, instinct goes further still ; and in ever]/ 
case there finally comes to be a conscious relation 
of the parent to the young. It hardly seems possi- 
ble that all the acts that relate to the young are 
performed with a consciousness of the coming pa- 
rental relation. Undoubtedly the migration of the 
bird is as much a matter of blind impulse as the mi- 
gration of the fish. We judge so because we see 
the bird following such a uniform line of action in 
other respects. In certain things, birds of the same 
species act under the guidance of instinct with as 
great uniformity as the same species of trees in the 
arrangement of their leaves, or the pattern of their 
flower. So that while the act is truly voluntary, it 
is as certain to take place under similar conditions 
as any organic change in a plant, and the act is per- 
formed by a wisdom and skill given, and not acquir- 
ed. The bird that has never seen a nest will build 
one as all its kind have done before, selecting the 
same class of materials and combining them in the 
same manner. If there is any conscious relation to 
the young that should lead to the preparation of the 
nest, how can we account for that impulse that thus, 
without instruction, induces every bird of the same 
species to build of the same materials, to select 
similar situations, and to weave those materials in 
the same manner } A hundred different species of 
birds of the same size, and, so far as we could judge 



Instinct of Birds. 99 

beforehand, equally well accommodated with the same 
kind of nest, will build a hundred kinds ; but a thou- 
sand birds of the same kind, without concert, in dif- 
ferent parts of the world, some old, having built 
many nests, some young, now building for the first 
time, all without instruction, build exactly alike — the 
young as skilfully as the old. What but a divine 
wisdom and skill guides the architects of the air ? 
The bird that has never before seen an ^^^, sits 
upon the nest until the young birds appear. What 
tells her that in that ^^^ is a germ of life that the 
warmth of her body will wake to activity ? Up to 
this point we cannot but regard all her actions as 
blind, and unconscious of their end, as the act of the 
fish and the insect that are never to see their young. 
As she works perfectly to secure an end, and is yet 
entirely ignorant of that end while she works, she 
must be under the guidance of a wisdom not her 
own. Nor does it alter the question whether that 
wisdom be the result of an impulse constantly im- 
parted to her, or the certain, uniform result of her 
organization. But when the young bird appears, it 
needs in its helpless state a parent's care, and the 
instinct of the parent becomes quickened and rises 
to a higher plane by a conscious relation, while the 
almost unconscious instinct of the young instantly 
responds to this higher instinct of the parent. The 
mother brings food, and every bill in the nest is 
raised and opened to receive it. The old partridge 
flutters like a wounded bird in your path to attract 
attention, and gives the note of warning, at which 



100 Natural Theology. 

every one of the brood vanishes as though the earth 
had swallowed them. Every fowl knows the hawk 
to be an enemy as far as he can be seen, though 
seen now for the first time. 

In the large majority of these cases, and in others 
that might be mentioned, it is impossible to refer 
the act of these animals to previous instruction, to 
experience, or to conscious relation. The impulse is 
upon them ; they act, they know not why. We see 
that those acts are for the actors the perfection of 
wisdom. We know the wisdom is not in them. 
It must be in Him who implanted the impulse. 

Among mammals, of course excluding man, we 
find instinct taking a still wider range. It does not 
work with that almost mathematical precision seen 
in the bee and other lower animals ; but while the 
animal remains in a wild state, it is so perfect and 
uniform in its action that every species is distin- 
guished for the same habits, and every individual of 
the species under its direction seeks the same end 
for himself, and seeks it in the same way. The bea- 
ver, the otter, the fox and the marmot, the lion and 
the whale, remain essentially unchanged in their 
natures and uniform in their modes of life from gen- 
eration to generation. The wider range of theii 
instinct is seen when they are brought into new re- 
lations. They are then found to have greater vari- 
ety in their adaptation than the lower tribes. In 
many of them, there seems indeed to be an intelli- 
gence quite distinct from instinct, which is called 
out especially when they are brought into constant 



Higher Instinct. loi 



<b 



conflict with man, or when they are subjected to his 
control and act under his direction. 

But this instinct in the higher animals may itself 
take so wide a range as to be mistaken for intelli- 
gence by the casual observer, though just as distinct 
from it as the blindest instinct of the lowest tribes. 
The muskrat burrows in high banks along the rivers, 
and one who had seen him only in such places would 
suppose this to be his only mode of life. But if he 
cannot find banks, then he builds a house of mud 
and weeds in the open air, upon some stump or 
knoll, or shallow place in the water. This house, 
seen for the first time, would strike an observer, 
who had seen this animal before only among the 
steep banks of rivers, as the work of no mean intel- 
ligence, adapting itself to new conditions. But 
that house is built on a specific plan, and is just 
such in all particulars as all muskrats would build 
in any part of the world, when shut out for the first 
time from the high banks in which they had been 
accustomed to burrow. That house is then the 
work of instinct ; an instinct that certainly covers 
two modes of building, and perhaps others. The 
same thing is undoubtedly true of many animals. 
Their instinct is not entirely exhausted in its 
resources by their present condition in life ; and 
thus, when thrown into new conditions, they often 
meet them in a manner surprising to us. And 
therefore we hear of change of instinct, or the 
development of new instincts. But if the animals 
are sure always to meet these new conditions in the 



I02 Natural Theology. 

same way, they plainly act under the guidance of 
instinct ; for intelligence acts in no such fixed direc- 
tions. 

Among these higher tribes, then, we find all 
that is needed for the animal's good, for the indivi- 
dual or for the species. In the youngest, it is suffi- 
cient for its wants, because it is supplemented by 
the instinct of the parent. It is simply more varied 
in these higher tribes because their relations to the 
world are more varied. And if, in some animals, 
we recognise intelligence, we always find it subor- 
dinate to instinct, so as to work in the same line 
for the animal's good ; so that instinct, and not 
intelligence, controls the animal. In every kind, 
from the highest to the lowest, we find the thinking 
being just high enough in its mental powers to 
inhabit the body in which it is placed, with mind 
enough to use that body. Mind and body are both 
fitted to each other, and both work together in per- 
fect relation to the world. They are parts of one 
comprehensive plan, perfect in its conception and 
execution ; a plan that commends itself to the wis- 
dom of man, so far as he can comprehend it, but 
higher, vaster, and more perfect than he could him- 
self devise. 



LECTURE IV. 

SPECIAL CONTRIVANCES PRESERVATION OF SPECIES. 

Special adaptations. — Ftmctions. — Cases mentioned by Paley. 
— Ball a7id socket joint. — Cuttle-fish. — Terebratulas. — 
Leech. — Gnats. — Bees. — Spide7'-s. — Variation of substance 
according to their instinct. — Silk-worin. — Lobsters and 
Crabs. — Rattlesnake. — Birds. — Fitted for fight. — Oil 
glaitd — Structure of birds of prey. — Water birds. — Form 
of bills. — Grebe and Loon. — Waders. — Woodpeckers. — De- 
velopme7it froin use considered. — Ho7)iologous structure. — 
Li7nbs of a7ii77ials. — Teeth. — Whales a7id Rays. — Crop of 
birds. — Preservatio7i of species. — Defi7iition of. — Multipli- 
city of ger77is. — Distribiitio7i of seeds. — Spri7igs, balloo7is, 
hooks, barbs. — Sa77ie e7id secured by diverse 77ieans. — 
Vitality of seeds. — Fe7 tilizatio7i of flowers. — Growth of 
pla7its supple77ie7iti7ig i7isti7ict. — Car7iivorous ani77ials 11771- 
ited i7i 7iu77iber. — Destriiction of a7ii77tals provided for. — 
Stiff eri7ig and death. — Good7iess of Deity to be vi7idicated. 
— Ma7t's e7ijoy77ie7it a7id stfferiiig 07i differe7it grou7ids. — 
Prese7it discussio7i C07ifi7ied to lower ani77ials. — Sifferi7ig 
7iever inflicted for its ow7i sake. — E7tjoy77ient in excess of 
sufferi7ig. — Death secures parental relatio7i. — Su77i of en- 
joy77ie7it i7icreased by successio7i of a7zi7nals. — l7itroductio7i 
of car7iivorous a7ii77ials i7icreases the su77i of e7ijoy77ie7it. — 
Disease. — Provisio7i for its alleviatio7i. — Desig7i 77iay show 
cj^uelty. — Appare7it cruelty often real be7ievole7ice. — Creator 
Lflnite i7i His attributes. 

There seems to some minds to be great evidence 
of design in special adaptations. A loop, or hinge, 
or lens, is easier understood than the harmonies 
which embrace the relations of whole classes or 
kingdoms of nature. It is in the skilful presenta- 



I04 Natural Theology. 

tion of special adaptations that the excellence of 
Paley's Natural Theology mainly consists. Very 
little can be added to the examples he has selected 
for illustration. The most of them are still recog- 
nised as good, and most of them are so plain that 
they were as well understood in his day as now, 
with all the advance in science. We shall not, how- 
ever, confine ourselves to simple structure ; for the 
function of an organ may be as special in its adap- 
tation as structure possibly can be. Among the 
strongest cases mentioned by Paley, is the ligament 
within the hip-joint, fastening the ball and socket 
firmly together. It is a strong case, but this con- 
trivance did not appear for the first time in man, 
nor is it confined to the higher animals. Some of 
the sea-urchins, dug out of the old geological forma- 
tions, have their spines fastened to them by a ball 
and socket joint of most exquisite workmanship, and 
a ligament to hold the joint in place. This special 
contrivance appeared just as soon as an animal was 
created whose general structure and habits called 
for it. It has been continued from that time to this, 
and is now found in members of the animal king- 
dom furthest removed from each other in their organ- 
ization and rank. 

Among the shell-fish, we find almost every spe- 
cies with some special adaptation of structure cor- 
responding to its instincts and mode of life. The 
cuttle-fish is a combination of special adaptations. 
He has a syphon tube, through which he forces a 
jet of water, that, by its reaction, enables him to 



Cuttle-FisJi — Leech. 1 05 

move with great rapidity. He is also provided with 
an ink-bag, from which he ejects a cloud of colored 
fluid, and thus baffles his foe by the rapidity of his 
backward motion, and the inky screen that he raises 
before him. His tentacles are lined with miniature 
air-pumps, by means of which he fastens securely 
upon his prey. There is the nicely-fitting receiver, 
with its yielding edge, adapting itself to various sur- 
faces, and there is the piston and the muscle to move 
it. In some species, a sharp claw rises from the 
piston and enters the victim by the very action that 
draws him firmly against the suckers ; and the two 
longest tentacles, thus fastened upon their prey by 
the double action of pressure and sharpened claws, 
are held firmly together by other suckers, like for- 
ceps by the rivet, so that no instrument that man 
could devise would be so perfectly fitted for its pur- 
pose. 

The silken cords by which the pinnas and 
mussels anchor themselves have already been 
described. The perforated shell of the Terebra- 
tula, through which the fleshy anchor-cable is drawn, 
is of similar character. 

Among the articulates, the examples of special 
adaptation meet us on every hand. No more per- 
fect lances are found than those that arm the leech 
for his bloody work. If we cannot see the use of 
all the structure for the leech in his common mode 
of life, no one who has seen him fasten upon his 
prey with his miniature cupping-glasses, make the 
incision and deplete the veins, can regard the whole 

5* 



io6 Natural Theology. 

animal other than as a special and most perfe6l in- 
strument for bloodletting. 

The voracious gnat that robs our veins does it 
by an instrument fine as a hair, but certainly won- 
derfully fitted for its work. 

The proboscis of the bee is just the instrument 
needed for extracting honey from the flower. Her 
sting, with its bag of poison, cannot be improved 
upon as a means of defence. 

The spinneret of the spider — little bags perforat- 
ed with a multitude of holes — is perfect as an instru- 
ment ; and the material from which this delicate 
thread is spun, is beyond all human power to 
equal. With this curious magazine of material, 
ever ready to be drawn into silken cords, one species 
suspends himself in air, swings from wall to wall, 
and spreads his net for his insect prey ; another 
lines his dwelling with softest tissue ; and yet an- 
other fashions diving-bells that defy the action of 
the water. The main design of the instrument is 
the same, but the work is varied according to the 
instinct of each species. The nature of the sub- 
stance is somewhat varied too, undoubtedly ; but 
the spinneret and silk-producing fluid, both adapt- 
ed to each other, appear in every case a special 
adaptation to the creature's wants. And when the 
spider has twisted his hundreds of threads together, 
man still seeks for this cable for the cross-lines of 
his telescope, because he can spin no single thread 
as fine. The silk-worm is provided with a similar 
material from which it spins its cocoon, a temporary 



Lobster — Rattlesnake — Birds. 1 07 

resting-place for itself while passing into a higher 
form of life. The lobster and crab are provided 
with a solid armor completely fitting all their limbs 
and joints ; an armor so solid that growth would 
seem to be impossible. But nature gives them 
the power at certain seasons of throwing off this 
solid case, and after a rapid expansion of the body, of 
secreting another covering adapted to the increased 
size. 

The fang of the rattlesnake is the perfection of 
an instrument for his cruel work. It is a tube, but 
the end is flattened upon one side so as to bring the 
point to a keen edge ; and the poison, ever ready, is 
driven out by the very blow that makes the wound. 
This fang, so essential to the animal to supplement 
his instinct, is liable to be broken by his savage 
blows ; but nature has placed the germs of others in 
the same socket, to grow and take the place of the 
one lost. His rattle, which gives the warning before 
he strikes, is a curious piece of mechanism, not 
made for the animal ; but being so perfectly fitted 
for its work, and so in keeping with the instincts of 
the animal, we cannot but regard this as a special 
provision that this deadly reptile might not need- 
lessly destroy life. 

The whole bird tribe is a marvel of special adap- 
tations. The whole external structure, which cha- 
racterizes birds, is itself a special adaptation to 
the external world ; and when we consider the means 
by which this perfect relationship is secured, 
we are deHghted by the skill manifested in the 



io8 Natural Theology. 

whole plan, and the perfection with which that plan 
is carried out. 

Flight is secured by the most skilful mechanism 
of feathers, and the accumulation of muscle around 
the shoulder of the bird. What can be more per- 
fect in its mechanism than each feather of the wing, 
— its hollow elastic shaft securing lightness and 
strength t Then we have the skilful joining of all 
the lines of the web, and that combination of barbs 
and hooks that has ever challenged the admiration 
of men. The position of all the feathers is such, 
that by expanding the wing, they cover the greatest 
extent possible with no openings between them. 
The muscles are not only of great strength, but 
they are so arranged that the wing strikes the air 
at the required angle to enable the bird to rise and 
completely control its motions. And then observe 
the compactness with which the instrument is fold- 
ed away when not in use. The great expenditure 
of muscular force is provided for by the great lung 
capacity, the whole viscera even being bathed with 
air. 

The bird by instinct trims its feathers, when the 
web has been broken ; and because the feathers are 
too long, and not of a structure like hair, to receive 
from the body the oil which they need to preserve 
their gloss, nature has provided a never-failing bottle 
of oil on the back of the bird which instinct has 
taught it how to use. 

In the bird of prey we find the sharp, hooked bill 
for tearing its victim, and sharp talons for seizing 



Water-Birds — Woodpecker. 109 

it ; both perfectly fitted for their work and, harmo- 
nizing with each other. 

In water-birds we find the web foot for swimming, 
and bills fitted for their mode of life. The wide- 
billed ducks have strainers on the sides of the 
mouth, because they gather their food from the 
mud and water. The narrow-billed sheldrake has 
the sharp saw-teeth which his instinct teaches him 
to use in holding his fishy prey. In those birds 
whose habits confine them mostly to the water, like 
the grebe or loon, the leg is thin as a knife, that it 
may cut the water with as little resistance as pos- 
sible, and each toe is an oar of most exquisite con- 
struction. The feathers of such birds are water- 
proof The waders, like the herons and snipes, are 
provided with long legs and long necks to harmo- 
nize with them in pursuit of prey and in flying. The 
feathers on the legs of these waders do not grow 
down to the middle joint as in other birds, but keep 
out of the way of the water like sleeves well rolled 
up. So perfectly are the bills of all birds adapted 
to their instincts, that from the bill alone the habits 
of a bird one had never seen could be judged of 
with great accuracy. The woodpecker is the best 
and most familiar example of this special and har- 
monizing structure. Its sharp bill is for piercing 
wood ; its foot, with two toes in opposite directions, 
is just fitted for clinging to the limbs on either side, 
or upon the bark. Its tail-feathers are stiffened 
and sharpened at the points to act as supports ; its 
tongue is barbed like a steel spear. What a perfect 



no Natitral Theology. 

specimen he is ; the general plan is perfect, the 
details are perfect, the execution is perfect. That 
tongue that cannot utter an articulate sound, speaks 
in a language which every reasonable man must 
understand. It was not only skill that planned 
those barbs, but it was a higher skill that so organ- 
ized the stomach and whole system of the bird 
that the blood should carry to the tip of the tongue 
just the materials needed to form that spear. 
And when one talks of development through use, 
it is incumbent upon him to show some ground for 
believing that use of an organ can, not only change 
its form, but can so affect the system that it shall 
provide entirely new material to complete the 
change. 

It is impossible to observe so many skilful and 
beautiful arrangements as are combined in the struc- 
ture of birds, without admiring the wisdom and skill 
of their Creator. The feather in all its parts, the oil 
gland, and the crop, are all special adaptations, and 
all of them combined for the same purpose, to fit 
the bird for its place in the animal kingdom, to 
carry out first the leading idea of a typical bird. 
And then by special adaptations, we have the typical 
bird modified, giving us the countless varieties, each 
one fitted for its sphere of life, and altogether appa- 
rently exhausting the possibilities of bird-life. So 
many light, aerial ships are to be launched — and 
what a wealth of contrivance in the distribution of 
force, and in the rigging of each little craft ! What 
man could suggest a single improvement in the 



Plan of Structure. 1 1 1 

structure of one of them, to better fit it for its 
instincts and mode of life ? Let him consider the 
eagle that seems never to tire, while he rises beyond 
the reach of vision ; and that gem of beauty, the 
humming-bird, as suspended in the air he sips the 
honey like a bee from the flower ; and in the whole 
winged tribe, consider the perfect adaptation to their 
place by special contrivances, and he need not go 
further in search of the handiwork of infinite wisdom 
and skill. 

We find in each of the four great divisions of the 
animal kingdom a series of homologies, or likeness 
of structure. The organs are constructed upon the 
same plan, but modified for specific use. It is this 
unity of plan and variety of modification that espe- 
cially arrests our attention as the work of a wise 
Being. The wisdom is shown in devising a plan 
capable of such infinite variations, and skill is mani- 
fested in giving such variety as shall adapt the 
organs to the use of animals so diverse, without 
once swerving from the plan in which the grand 
idea is embodied. Among the vertebrate animals, 
this unity of plan and diversity of execution are most 
easily understood. The fin of the fish, the wing of the 
bird, the claw of the lion, the foot of the ox, and the 
hand of man, are identical in their plan of structure ; 
but the plan is modified to such an extent to meet 
the wants of each species, that to a casual observer 
there would seem but little, if any relationship 
between them. But when their bony parts are 
compared, their similarity is not only apparent, but 



112 Natural Theology, 

we are struck with admiration at the permanence 
of the plan which appears through all the modifica- 
tions. Some bones are lengthened, some are short- 
ened, and some are indeed wanting ; but enough 
are left to give an outline. The pectoral fin of the 
first fish in the Silurian seas, in the dim geologic 
ages, was the first sketch of the hand of man which 
Nature introduced upon the globe. And from that 
simple sketch she never varied ; but the plan became 
more definite and perfect, and higher in its use, as 
higher animals were introduced, till an organ was 
produced that is a fit servant of the intelligence 
with which man is endowed. 

In the teeth of animals we have a marked adapta- 
tion to the instincts and desires of the various spe- 
cies. The Rodents, of which the beaver and squirrel 
are well known types, have their cutting-teeth al- 
most as hard as steel upon the front, and softer upon 
the inside, so that constant use is sure to give them 
a sharp, cutting edge. And because these teeth 
are subjected to such constant wear, they are made 
to grow continuously. We see here a need to be 
supplied, and the structure of the tooth and the 
unusual condition of growth are both combined to 
secure the needed result. We referred to the early 
introduction of the ball and socket joint in the 
Echinus for the joining of his spines upon his shell. 
The same animal has the teeth constructed on the 
same plan as the Rodents, though they are five in 
number, and move concentrically. 

In carnivorous animals, the teeth, in form and 



Modifications of Teeth. 113 

position, are fitted to cut and tear. Their points 
are sharp, and those in the upper and lower jaws 
pass each other Uke scissor-blades. In those that 
feed upon insects, fine, sharp points fit into cor- 
responding indentations. 

In herbivorous animals, the modifications are 
numerous, but always adapted to the food. In the 
horse, the layers of hard and soft material alternate 
in the crown of the tooth, so that under constant 
use the surface of the tooth is like a millstone that 
is picked by the very process of grinding. And in 
the moose and deer that browse, the tooth grows 
sharp upon the outer edge like a chisel. The 
mouth of the Greenland whale is another marked 
case of adaptation in an animal for the food upon 
which he lives. This largest animal upon the globe 
feeds upon the minute mollusks and crustaceans 
that float in countless numbers in the northern 
seas. For such food, teeth would be useless. His 
huge mouth is fitted with a strainer formed by the 
fringes of the whalebone plates. By this curiously 
constructed net he gathers his food from the 
waters. 

In the mouths of some rays and other fishes that 
feed upon shell- fi.sh, there is a solid pavement of 
bone, both above and below, for crushing the shells. 
In birds where no teeth are found, and the food is 
mostly solid seeds, a compensation is found in the 
crop, in which the food is held for a time and gra- 
dually dropped into the powerful muscular stomach 
fitted to grind as well as digest. 



114 Natural Theology. 

We have thus given some of the more common ex- 
amples which show that, in addition to that machinery 
of structure and those chemical and vital changes 
common to all animals, by which they are fitted to 
the world, there cannot be a single species found 
among the complex animals, where there cannot be 
pointed out some special adaptation, by which it 
occupies a particular place, or performs some func- 
tion peculiar to itself These adaptations remind 
us of the ingenuity of man ; they often suggest con- 
trivances to him ; they are never such that he could 
improve upon them for the purpose intended. We 
might enter the vegetable kingdom with the same 
result, but enough will appear respecting this in our 
general discussion. 

We have selected examples at random. But we 
might add, that the whole progress of science is 
simply a more perfect unfolding of adaptations, 
general and special ; and our work with them is 
done, when we have shown that each species has 
received the special care of the Creator. And 
this brings us next to notice the preservation of 
species. 

We regard each species as a distinct and original 
creation. It embodied some distinct idea ; but, for 
our present purpose, no particular theory of the origin 
of species is needed. The first provision for the pre- 
servation of species which attracts our attention 
is the multiplicity of germs produced. It seems as 
though there had been a calculation of chancer, and 
those organic beings whose conditions of life expose 



Preservation of Species. 115 

their young to destructive agencies, were made pro- 
lific to an amazing degree. In some of the lower 
forms of animal life, where there is no care for the 
young, the eggs are counted by millions. The 
same general law is true of plants. Their seeds, 
as a general thing, are food for animals, and are 
exposed to destroying agencies, and their produc- 
tiveness seems in proportion to the chances they 
must run. Who can compute the thousands of 
acorns that must have fallen from some of the old 
oaks that count their centuries of growth t 

Among the plants we find special contrivances 
for the distribution of their seeds, that must be reck- 
oned as one means of preserving species. The 
Impatiens opens its capsule with a sudden spring 
which scatters the seed far from the parent stalk. 
The cranesbill does the same, except that each seed 
is held by its own little spring, which is ready to 
throw its seed when ripe, like a stone from a sling. 
Numerous seeds are edged with delicate membranes, 
like the maple and elm, so that every gust of wind 
scatters them broadcast upon the earth. Others 
still sail on silky balloons constructed with most 
exquisite skill. One dandelion-seed would seem to 
be enough to cut up all atheism by the roots. Its 
finely spread balloon, with its seed hanging like a 
miniature car as it floats through the air, is cer- 
tainly a piece of mechanism perfect for the end in 
view. The seeds of other plants are armed with 
hooks, barbed like finest spears or hooks of steel. 
Almost every person who has rambled in the fields 



ii6 Natural Theology. 

or woods in autumn has been annoyed by the seeds 
of vile weeds that fasten upon his clothing. But 
when he pulls them off and casts them from him, he 
has accomplished nature's purpose, the distribution 
of the plant. The detested burdock fastens its whole 
packages of seeds upon the passer-by with its mul- 
titude of polished hooks, so that the ripened cover- 
ing is sure to be ruptured before it can be unfas- 
tened, and thus its seeds are scattered upon the soil. 
These are a few of the examples of that special care 
which Nature takes, that the germs of life which 
she has prepared may be scattered where they may 
find the conditions of their germination. We can 
hardly help recognising design in the distribution 
by means of animals, and by the waters of the ocean ; 
but these may by some be regarded as accidental. 
But when we see the machinery of springs, of bal- 
loons, and cunningly-formed hooks and barbs, we 
recognise a purpose, and the means wisely adapted 
to carry out that purpose. We see the same thing 
aimed at in both kingdoms. We see the end se- 
cured by means the most diverse, so unlike that one 
would never suggest the other, much less do they 
impress us as resulting from any process of deve- 
lopment. 

Still another provision is found in the great vital- 
ity of certain seeds. Some of them have germi- 
nated after having lain for centuries. It is no uncom- 
mon thing to find the seeds in old fields springing 
up with vigor, when the soil is turned and they are 
brought under the influence of the sun and air. 



Balance of Species. wj 

We shall incidentally, in other connections, point 
out many of nature's plans for the preservation of 
species. Instinct brings the bee to fertilize the 
flower, that but for her would fail to produce seed, 
so that in time the species would become extinct. 
The tree provides for its young by a law of its own 
growth, and the animal by instinct makes provision 
for its young wherever peculiar conditions are needed 
for their preservation. The vegetable kingdom 
sometimes supplements that instinct, and provides 
by special growth both food and home for the insect 
young. So perfectly are all these means adjusted, 
that, so far as we know, no animal or plant has be- 
come extinct in modern times except through the 
agency of man. 

But it is not enough that the species should be 
preserved ; there must also be a balance of species. 
Too great a preponderance of one kind would be 
attended by injury or destruction of others. The 
number of each species must be determined by its 
relations to other organic beings. Carnivorous ani- 
mals cannot be more numerous than herbivorous. 
Birds of prey must be few in number compared with 
those upon which they feed. There is thus a cer- 
tain limit fixed to the relative number of different 
animals, by the amount of food fitted to sustain each 
kind, and by the climate which they can endure. 
But nature has not left all to push on to the utmost 
bounds of possible existence. She has plainly set 
limits to the power of increase among the great de- 
stroyers of animal life, that the species which she 



Ii8 Natural Theology. 

has created may not struggle for existence in vain. 
The animals that live by the destruction of others 
are not less in number because only a few can pos- 
sibly survive. They are less by creation, by the 
law of their increase. The larger and more de- 
structive any animal is, the less rapidly does it mul- 
tiply. So that while nature evidently makes pro- 
vision for the destruction of animals by others on a 
vast scale, it is not a part of her plan to increase 
any species without supplying adequate food for its 
support. The tribes that are most prolific are fol- 
lowed ever by multitudes of enemies, so that their 
number shall not be unduly increased. Some few ex- 
amples there are, like the locust tribes, that show us 
what might be the result were there not the well ar- 
ranged balance which so generally prevails in nature. 

In order to secure the balance of species a mighty 
machinery is at work, bringing suffering and death. 
We recognise design in the machinery ; but what 
shall we say of the goodness of a Being whose 
wisdom reaches its end through pain and suffering, 
however perfectly the end may be secured .'* 

We may speculate on the possible constitution of 
animals by which they might be freed from pain 
and suffering. But it is not certain at all that such 
a constitution is possible in a world like this, with- 
out at the same time diminishing the capacity for 
enjoyment. And if we accept the present animal 
constitution as a wise and good one, then the 
destruction of animal life can be fully vindicated as a 
manifestation of goodness. 



Disease mid Death. 119 

In considering this subject, we will, for the pres- 
ent, exclude man. For though he is liable to pain 
and death like the meanest animal on the globe, he 
has a moral nature, and claims to be immortal ; so 
that it is possible to put pain and suffering on 
entirely different grounds when considering man, 
from what we can when considering the lower ani- 
mals. Man's highest enjoyment or suffering is cer- 
tainly not connected with his physical system. He 
can in his moral strength despise both pain and 
death. We shall have occasion to refer to this sub- 
ject when treating of the adaptation of the world to 
the moral nature of man. But for the present, we 
wish to inquire what can be inferred of the charac- 
ter of the Creator, from the pain and death of the 
lower animals. 

The two main points which we wish to make are 
these : 

First. — That by death among the lower animals, 
a greater amount of enjoyment is secured to them 
as a class than could be secured without it. 

Second. — In disease and all methods by which 
death is produced, no case can be pointed out in 
which suffering is plainly inflicted for its own sake. 

If it can be shown that happiness among animals 
is in excess of misery, and that there are provisions 
made for relieving pain and curing disease, then the 
burden is on those who doubt either the existence 
or perfect benevolence of the Creator, to show that 
there is not a wise and good reason for the exist- 
ence of so much pain and suffering as are found in 



120 Natural Theology, 

the world. They are here ; but since no case 
appears where they are inflicted for their own sake, 
we infer that their existence is compatible with the 
highest benevolence of a Creator, who through 
those means may be able to secure the best results 
upon the whole. If we take any class of animals, 
there is no question but the amount of their physi- 
cal enjoyment vastly surpasses the pain and suffer- 
ing which they endure. The majority of animals 
have a lifetime of physical enjoyment with but a 
single pang, or the suffering of a few moments, 
when death comes. But the question returns, why 
should the pang of death come at all, and how is 
increase of enjoyment secured by it 1 We answer : 

First. — Any constitution of animals that excluded 
death would exclude the parental relation. And 
the love and care of offspring are a source of 
delight to all the higher tribes, and we have no 
reason for supposing that there may not be enjoy- 
ment connected with reproduction among the lower 
tribes, even where there is no conscious parental 
relation. 

Second. — In consequence of death, we have new 
generations coming each year into existence for 
enjoyment, instead of the continuance of the same 
individuals for ever. There is no question but the 
sum of animal enjoyment is increased beyond com- 
putation by the succession of animals upon the globe. 

Third. — The number of animals that now exist is 
vastly greater than could exist if all were vegetable 
feeders. 



Carnivorous Anhnals. 121 

If now we grant that these animals have more 
enjoyment than suffering* during their existence, 
any method that increases the number of animals 
adds to the sum of animal enjoyment in the world. 
If we consider the vegetable-feeders that are de- 
stroyed, their destruction by carnivorous animals 
cannot be reckoned a misfortune to them as a class. 
It shortens animal enjoyment in the individual, but 
it saves individual suffering in the end, and in- 
creases the sum of enjoyment for the whole class 
Many more individuals among vegetable-feeders 
come to maturity now than could find food if all 
were allowed to live the full term of life. We thus 
have the enjoyment of several young animals for a 
short time, cut off in a moment, instead of the 
enjoyment of one animal living a much longer time 
with weakened powers of enjoyment and suffering 
in the end from hunger and weakness of old age. 
There can be no doubt in which way the greatest 
amount of animal enjoyment is secured. Old age 
to man is desirable, cheered by the companionship 
of friends ; and disease itself may prove a moral 
blessing. But for brutes, old age and disease are 
not thus mitigated. And provision has been made 
that among wild animals they should be impossible, 
or of the shortest possible duration. When the 
powers of an animal have been weakened by old 
age or disease, some watchful enemy is generally 
upon his track, and his sufferings are ended in a 
moment. By the introduction of beasts and birds 
of prey, then, animals are destroyed with less pain 

6 



122 Natural Theology. 

than by disease or old age, and their destruction is 
a source of enjoyment to the destroyers. Granting, 
then, that the mere capabiHty of suffering is no 
proof of malevolence, the introduction of carnivorous 
animals certainly shows a benevolent Creator. For 
by this provision we have a saving of suffering to 
one portion of the animal kingdom, and at the 
same time an increase of enjoyment for another. 
But we have also death from disease. It would 
certainly, be difficult to show benevolence here, 
were there not plainly provisions made for the 
alleviation of suffering. And all that we feel bound 
to show is, that suffering is not inflicted for its own 
sake. That there is design and plan in disease, has 
been of late fully illustrated. Indeed, were there 
not, the study of diseases would be hopeless. But 
design does not by any means always imply benevo- 
lence. It may show cruelty as well. Yet some- 
times there may be apparent cruelty where there is 
the fullest benevolence. It is easy to see the 
design of the surgeon, as he severs the flesh and 
bone of the limb apparently sound. It is to cut 
off the limb. And if we saw the operation now for 
the first time, and knew nothing of surgery, and 
nothing of the cause of the act, it would seem to us 
unmitigated cruelty. But if we saw the operator 
first put the patient into an insensible state so as to 
diminish pain, and then tend him carefully till a 
cure was completed, we should have good grounds 
for supposing that the operator was not a malevo- 
lent being ; but on the other hand, we should rea- 



Benevolence of the Creator. 123 

sonably infer that there was the controlling princi- 
ple of benevolence in the whole transaction, even in 
that part which seemed most cruel. 

Now the animal system is liable to pain from dis- 
ease and accident. This fact standing by itself, 
would look like malevolence in the Creator. But 
since there is provision for counteracting disease 
and diminishing pain, even among the lower animals, 
we not only have a right, but are bound to infer 
that the Being who gave the capacity of suffering 
and allowed disease, did so for a wise purpose, 
and with no malevolent design. Certain it is that 
remedies have been provided in nature both for the 
alleviation of pain and the cure of disease. And 
if a bone is broken, nature has her machinery ready 
to join the fractured portions together, and so sur- 
round their roughened points that suffering shall be 
brought to an end. Amidst all the pain and suffer- 
ing among animals, then, we see benevolence in the 
provisions made for their alleviation. We see that 
physical enjoyment among animals is vastly in 
excess of suffering. We see no case where suffer- 
ing is inflicted for its own sake. With all these 
evidences of His good-will before us, we cannot 
believe that the Creator takes pleasure in suffering. 
And if he does not take pleasure in it, we see enough 
of His wisdom and skill in securing results to be 
sure that the pain and suffering incident to animal 
life have a wise purpose, or He would not allow them. 
It is not needful for our present purpose to discuss 
the possible theories why they are allowed. The 



124 Natural Theology. 

machinery of this universe is vast. The machinery 
at work on our globe is compHcated beyond measure. 
It is not strange that, when contemplating a part, 
there should seem to be want of adjustment ; and that 
in our self-sufficiency we should impugn the wisdom 
of the Ordainer, and distrust His goodness. But 
when we wait, when we have looked long, has our 
patient, careful search ever detected a mistake t The 
more the machinery is seen, the more complete all its 
parts appear, the better seems its adaptation to the end 
in view. Of what human works can this be said.? 
They appear perfect at the first glance, but careful 
looking reveals imperfection in construction and 
defect in execution. Who but a Being infinite in 
all His attributes could so adjust all animal life upon 
the globe as to secure the continuance of the species 
He had created ; — could so establish their relations, 
as by the very law of destruction and death to 
secure the greatest enjoyment .-* 

We have necessarily turned aside somewhat for 
this brief discussion, but we have done so with a 
purpose ; because when we return again to consider 
the provision made for man, we wish him to stand 
entirely disconnected from the lower animals, that 
we may consider him as an intellectual and moral 
being. It seemed proper to speak of the destruction 
of the lower animals in connection with the balance 
of species which depends so largely upon it. 

We have now seen the adaptation of man and all 
other sentient beings to the world — a series of 
adaptations implying, certainly in the Creator, the 



Conclusion. 125 

attributes of a personal being ; the highest wisdom 
and skill controlled by benevolence, even in con- 
nection with pain, disease, and death. It is only in 
the structure and instincts of animals, and in the 
provisions made for them as sentient beings, that 
benevolence can be shown. But the other attributes 
of the Creator are clearly manifested in plant life, to 
which we next turn. 



LECTURE V. 

ADAPTATION OF PLANTS TO THE WORLD. 

Design in pla7tts seen only in organizatio7i. — Natural selec- 
tion. — Provision made by platits cojjipared with instinct. — 
Wisdom fuatiifested by iiistinct referred to the Creator. — 
Relation of plants to earth and air. — Polarity. — Structure 
of leaves. — Fall of leaf. — Structure of wide-leaved trees. 
— Of evergree?is. — Position of buds. — Afathe^natical order. 
— Syjnmetry a7id welfare of tree secured. — Vai-iety of habit. 
— Fitted for^ soil. — Climate and place in the solar system. 
— Power of the bud. — Young fruits. — Structure of buds. — 
Food stored up. — The potato. — Beet and Parsnip. — Cen- 
tury plant. — Orchis. — Solomon'' s-seal. — Structure of seed. 
— Perfection and va?'iety of inachinery. — Relation of 
plants and animals. — Effect of each on the air. — Vegetable 
kingdojn subservient to the animal. — Its support. — Oak 
galls. — Plants respond to the insecfs insti^ict. —Fertiliza- 
tion of plants by insects. — Squashes. — Forget-me-nots. — 
Orchids.-r-Results. 

It is a remark of Paley that design is perhaps less 
apparent in the vegetable kingdom than in the ani- 
mal. This may be true, but the argument for design 
in plants has certainly some advantages. Evidence 
of design in plants must be sought for exclusively 
in the structure and function of their organs. There 
is no mind, no instinct. All changes in them, and all 
provision which they make for their individual wel- 
fare, and for their species, must therefore be the 
result of organization, and not of contrivance origi- 
nating in thought, inherent in themselves. Where 
there is a thinking being, it is natural for us to 



Design in Plants. 127 

ascribe to it a measure of wisdom in providing for 
itself and for its young, and we may imagine, as 
some naturalists have, that the adaptations of an 
animal grow out of conscious attempts to harmonize 
its relations to the external world. But with the 
plant, nothing of this kind can be claimed. The prin- 
ciple of natural selection may be insisted upon, and 
the claim made, that we find the present tribes of 
plants, only because they happen to be fitted for the 
place in which they are found ; and thus they survive, 
while their kindred, with less perfect relations, have 
been destroyed. But the fact remains, that those 
plants which now clothe the earth are what they 
are from no attempt on their part to better their 
condition or to complete their adaptation to the 
world. They are what they are either by chance 
or by design in their creation. Any other supposi- 
tion no man would pretend to make. 

He may talk of some law by which they are fitted to 
their place by development. But he cannot believe 
that plants establish laws for themselves. If they 
are under any law, that law was established for them. 
Whether the adaptation of plants to the world is the 
result of chance, by which some favored ones have 
developed in the right direction, so as to maintain 
their ground against all destroying agencies, or 
whether they were created as they are, and all their 
relations established by an intelligent Designer, can 
only be learned from a careful consideration of their 
structure and relations. If it be said that the pro- 
visions which they make are analogous to those 



128 Natural Theology. 

made by animals under the guidance of instinct, and 
that therefore their creation proves nothing higher 
than instinct in their Creator, we answer that instinct, 
even, cannot be regarded, by any fair consideration 
of that attribute, other than the power of seeking 
ends under an impulse. It often knows nothing of 
those ends ; and, in many cases, when its work is 
most perfect, it knows nothing of the relation of the 
means to the ends. It does certain things as the 
common mechanic might bore a hole, or make a 
mortice, where it had been marked by the master- 
builder, without knowing anything of the place the 
timber was to occupy in the structure. But if there 
is any wisdom apparent in the choice of ends, and 
in the choice of means to secure those ends, that 
wisdom belongs to a being of higher rank than one 
of instinct. We must refer that wisdom back to the 
Being where it belongs, and not be misled by the 
number of secondary agents that He calls into action 
to work out results under His guidance. 

The first relation of plants that demands our 
attention is to the earth and air. It is from both of 
these that the majority of plants draw their support. 
The root, as though loving darkness, plunges into 
the earth ; the branch, with its leaves, seeks the 
light. This polarity of the' tree is striking, appear- 
ing as soon as the germ begins to develop. Both 
branch and root are formed from cells of originally 
the same nature, for, under proper conditions, the 
root may put forth buds and leaves, while the branch, 
under the influence of darkness and moisture, deve- 



Provisio7i for Whiter. 1 29 

lops roots. But the welfare of the tree demands that 
there should be this polarity, and here we find it ; a 
portion constantly plunging into the earth to keep 
the plant in position, and furnish it with those salts 
from the earth needed for its growth, and the opposite 
portion just as plainly seeking the sunlight and the 
air, having a structure just fitted for its work. The 
root divides and subdivides, stretching far through 
the soil, gathering in its richness ; while the leaves 
give increased surface for sweeping the gases from 
the air, and for preparing the crude materials for the 
use of the plant. 

All the varied forms of leaves are such as to favor 
radiation, and thus to condense the dews upon 
them. The delicate but firm woody framework, 
like the vessel's spars, keeps the soft tissues stretched 
in place, that abundant surface may be secured with 
light weight. 

We cannot but admire that provision by which 
all wide-leaved trees in the northern zone, where 
snows and ice abound, are prepared for the winter. 
Their leaves appear as by magic in the spring, 
but the stem of every leaf has its curious joint, so 
that when the summer is past and the leaf becomes 
ripe or is killed by the frost, it drops from the tree, 
and naked branches alone are exposed to the snow, 
and ice, and winds of winter. Further south, wide- 
leaved trees are evergreen ; but were they so in 
northern climes, with their present structure, the 
species would be destroyed. One single winter 
would ruin our elms, and maples, and kindred trees, 

6* 



130 Natural Theology. 

if their leaves remained upon them. Their trunks 
divide into large branches, that in some old trees 
break down by their own weight. And these large 
branches, if loaded with snow and ice, would be torn 
from them by the winds, and decay and death would 
follow. But our northern evergreens, the spruce, 
the firs, and pines, were made to endure the frosts 
and snow without danger. Their whole plan of 
structure is different from that of the broad-leaved 
trees. Their trunks rise single shafts, never divided 
except by accident. Their limbs are disposed in 
circles ; they are small, compared with the size of 
the trees. They are not subdivisions of the trunk, 
but are fastened into it as pins are driven into posts. 
The well-arranged, bending limbs, remind one at 
once of a well-formed roof, from which the snow 
easily slides. Even when the ice gathers upon them, 
they are with the greatest difficulty broken from the 
trunk ; and if broken, their structure is such that 
harm is seldom done to the main shaft. 

Here, then, we have all wide-leaved trees, like 
prudent mariners, furling their sails when the dan- 
gers of winter approach, thus presenting only bare 
poles to the wind, while most of the northern cone- 
bearing trees, as though conscious of the strength 
of their spars, keep every stitch of canvas spread 
and bid defiance to the storm. 

Did the elm form the joint to its leaf and deter- 
mine the time for it to do its appointed work before 
the frosts and snow t Did the pine and spruce find 
by experience how their limbs must be fastened to 



Position of Btcds. 131 

the trunk, and that the trunk must be kept solid 
and entire — a single shaft ? Did any force in nature 
establish these relationships by which the tree is 
not only fitted to the earth and air, but to the dan- 
gers of particular zones. 

The position of the bud is also worthy of atten- 
tion. Every plant has a specific form, and this form 
is due mainly to the position of the buds upon its 
stem. They appear in an exact relation to each 
other, which in each species can always be repre- 
sented by a fixed mathematical expression. Since 
buds represent leaves and flowers and branches, not 
only the symmetry but the welfare of the tree de- 
mands that there should be some definite order or 
plan in their distribution. Were it not so, leaves 
might be crowded together on some branches and 
scattered far apart on others, and the same would 
be true of the branches on the trunk. 

By this mathematical arrangement of branches 
and leaves, the beauty of the tree is secured, it has 
greater strength, and the leaves are best distributed 
for contact with the air. When the tree is injured 
or diseased, it sometimes puts out buds without 
order, but we see at once that they mar the beauty 
of the tree, and that the power by which it builds up 
a symmetrical whole has been overcome, for such 
branches never grow in any fixed relation to the 
parent stock. They grow like independent plants, 
while every branch that grows from the appointed 
place, at once bends itself in obedience to the pa- 
rent tree. 



132 Natural Theology. 

A second matter of interest is the variety of 
habit in plants, by which they are fitted to so much 
of the surface of the earth. There are but few 
places where vegetation of some kind cannot be 
found. The variety of structure and of habit by 
which this is secured, is certainly worthy of an 
intelligent and wise Creator. 

Not only does every zone have its vegetation, 
but every variety of soil has its own peculiar plants. 
The various trees may mingle together to form a 
forest, but the willows line the borders of streams, 
bind the banks together, and bathe their thirsty 
roots in the water. The grasses weave their car- 
pet in the meadows ; the dry and wet lands having 
very different kinds, which always find their own 
place without the aid of man. The humble lichen 
adorns the unyielding rock and the trunks of aged 
trees. 

The fragrant lily lays its long roots beneath the 
waters, and floats its leaf and flower upon its sur- 
face. Some plants cluster near the ocean, and 
others fasten upon the rocks, where its waves can 
wash them ; and others still plunge deeper down, and 
form gardens and groves beneath the waters. The 
feathery palm finds its home in the torrid zone ; the 
hoary, creeping willow steals along beneath the 
snow towards the icy pole. Thus the earth is 
covered with vegetation, and in the vast scale of 
adaptations presented by the multitudes of species, 
every zone and every soil is provided for. 

Not only are the plants fitted for every zone and 



Place in the Solar System. 133 

every soil, but they are also fitted to our place in 
the solar system. There is a direct relation between 
the cycle of growth in ordinary plants and the length 
of the year. The different zones have indeed sea- 
sons of very different lengths, but their plants either 
cannot grow in other zones at all, or if they do, they 
as a general thing still require the same conditions 
as they had in their own locality. There is for each 
species a proper season for the germination of the 
seed, or for the unfolding of buds already formed ; 
a time for growth, and a time for maturing seeds or 
buds for the succeeding year. 

There is indeed great power of adaptation, espe- 
cially among cultivated plants, so that they are sub- 
servient to the artificial conditions that man can 
bring to bear upon them. But even under artificial 
conditions of the hot-house they have their cycle of 
growth. Such plants of the torrid zone as seem to 
have little annual change, show their adaptation by 
their power to endure the climate of that region. 
But among all the adaptations that can be pointed out, 
not one can be mentioned that militates against the 
statement that the plants upon the earth are adjust- 
ed in their changes and growth to our distance 
from the sun and our movements through the hea- 
vens. The unfolding leaf, the bundles of fibres in 
the trunk, and the maturing buds and fruit, all 
know their time by the earth's position among the 
stars. 

How strange it is, that the early frosts have power 
to kill the full-grown leaf on our fruit and forest 



134 Natural Theology. 

trees, but not even the icy fierceness of winter's cold 
can harm the young and tender leaf and flower folded 
in the bud. They have not yet done their work, and 
therefore they are preserved. But what explanation 
can be given of how it is done .'' They are carefully 
packed and protected indeed, and this has been re- 
garded as an evidence of design ; but the whole bud 
is exposed and frozen in spite of its skilful struc- 
ture. The mature leaf, though protected with ten 
times the care, could not withstand the cold to 
which the bud is exposed. Is that power in the 
young leaf which withstands the frost any less won- 
derful than the structure of the leaf or bud } Is it 
any satisfactory explanation to call it natural, the 
nature of the bud } How came the bud by this na- 
ture "l If we were left to reason on the subject, we 
should infer that the tender unexpanded leaf would 
be the first to feel the blight of winter. By what 
process of development was this strange power given 
to the bud, this unexpected superiority over the full- 
grown leaf.'* Is any other account so reasonable as 
to suppose this power was given by a wise Creator 
who understood the conditions of the globe, and 
gave to the plants, to the leaf and bud, the exact 
power they needed to meet those conditions } 

The same peculiar power possessed by the bud 
belongs to certain fruits. The young acorns on 
some of our oaks, which require two years to mature 
their fruit, and the apparently tender seeds of the 
witch-hazel, defy the coldest winters. In fact, what- 
ever part of the plant is required to live over from 



Instinct-like Provisions. 135 

one season to the next in order to preserve the spe- 
cies, has this peculiar power of withstanding cold, 
although it may appear the tenderest portion of the 
whole structure. In most of the cases thus far 
mentioned the relationship of the plant arises from 
what is ordinarily termed the nature of the organs, 
but the action of these organs is also important. 
Many of the results produced by the functions of 
organs are so specific and so well understood, that 
they present strong analogies to certain acts of ani- 
mals under the guidance of instinct or intelligence. 

The loss of the leaf already alluded to might per- 
haps be reckoned among the instinct-like provi- 
sions which the tree makes for its preservation ; but 
in this case it more resembles certain organic 
changes in animals in which they are mostly pas- 
sive, as in the shedding of the winter coat in spring. 
The animal has no power to produce this change, 
though he may be indirectly an actor. The snake 
could never slip out of its skin, nor the lobster from 
its shell, nor the ox remove his coat, if there had 
not been a provision in the organization and func- 
tion of each for a periodical loosening of the scales 
and shell and hair. 

But as by the animal, certain provisions are made 
from instinct for its own welfare and that of its 
young ; so in plants we find analogous provisions 
made, as though they were sentient beings. 

Some provisions made for the maturing, protec- 
tion, and early growth of buds and seeds, are of this 
nature. 



136 Natural Theology, 

The structure of all leaf-buds is essentially the 
same, and in some of our trees, as in the horse-chest- 
nut, they can be examined without difficulty. The 
delicate leaves all formed, are closely packed together 
in softest down. They are then covered with closely 
fitting scales, and these again by a coating of inso- 
luble varnish. Mechanically, the whole contrivance 
is perfect, and the work most skilfully done. In 
adapting means to ends, the structure of the bud is 
not surpassed by any work of man. 

But that bud is first to put out leaves, and these 
leaves are the organs for elaborating sap. How shall 
the tree, stripped of its leaves, supply itself with 
food while pushing out the myriad of new leaves 
from its buds .'' Like the instinct-guided bee, it has 
laid up provision for the time of need. When it has 
nearly finished its growth for one year, it makes 
provision for the year that is to come. In the axle 
of the leaf, the bud is set which, another spring, is 
to unfold in leaves and elongate into the branch. 
While this bud is fashioned and set in its place, food 
is also stored up in the tissues in form of starch and 
sugar and other organic materials for the support df 
that bud while expanding its leaves. The same 
principle is seen in a more striking manner in some 
of our cultivated plants. 

The potato is only a thickened underground stem. 
Its eyes correspond to the buds upon the common 
branch ; and the store of starch, so nutritious for 
food, was placed there to develop those eyes into 
stems at the appointed time. When the potato 



Stores of Food. 137 

sprouts in spring without contact with the earth, 
the stalk feeds upon this store of food gathered for 
its use. The beet, and parsnip, and other kindred 
plants, produce an abundance of flowers and fruit, 
but not till the second year. The first year, the 
whole energy of the plant is spent in providing a 
large succulent root stored with sugar and other 
organized materials. The second year, its whole 
energy seems to be spent in producing an abun- 
dance of fruit, and now it draws upon the collected 
stores of the first year, and thus produces results 
which would be impossible, were it compelled to 
elaborate its food when suddenly needed by its mul- 
titudes of flowers and seeds. 

Other plants are many years, instead of one, in 
making this provision. The so-called century 
plant and others in their thick leaves store up vast 
magazines of materials, that are used with astonish- 
ing rapidity when the time comes for them to send 
up their stems and produce their fruit. The same 
process may be observed in many of our perennial 
herbaceous' plants, that do much of their curious 
work beneath the soil. The broad-leaved orchis 
and the Solomon's-seal are examples. They pro- 
vide a large and vigorous bud as parent of the next 
year's plant, and while a portion of the old root 
decays, the remaining portion is packed with food 
to send up from that bud now hidden in the soil, a 
vigorous plant in the early spring. These provi- 
sions are for the plant itself, and only incidentally 
for the young plantlet which it is to produce. To 



138 Natural Theology. 

see this apparent parental care most fully manifested, 
we must examine the seed. In it is the germ of the 
young plant. But that germ has no power at first 
over earth or the gases of the air. It is shut out 
mainly from both. For this helpless state a pro- 
vision has been made. Around the germ, or in 
some way connected with it, the parent plant gar- 
ners the food which shall support the germ, till 
large enough to provide for itself The kernel of 
grain does not fill till its germ is fertilized. But 
when that is done, when a centre of life is formed, 
a new plant is there ; and then the starch, and sugar, 
and oil, are furnished by the parent stock for its 
support. All this action is organic, but it is a per- 
fect adaptation of means to ends. The machinery 
by which the results are reached is as complete in its 
structure and action as it is possible for us to con- 
ceive of This provision is not made in one plant 
alone ; but, in some form, in all. 

It is not one kind of material that is provided, 
but many. The work is not done by one method, 
but by methods almost numberless ; and yet every 
one of those methods commends itself most fully to 
our judgment. There is not a single case in the 
thousands that we could improve upon, for the wel- 
fare of the plant. We cannot believe that this varied 
machinery and these diverse methods result from 
the development of some force in nature, or organ- 
izing principle. We cannot, without doing violence 
to our own mental constitution, regard these as any 
other than the provision of an intelligent Creator, 



Relation of Plants to Animals. 139 

whose ways are perfect, whose wisdom and skill are 
infinite. 

Between the animal and plant there is a still 
more striking series of adaptations than between 
either of them and the inorganic world. They 
develop in opposite directions ; so that the more per- 
fect the plant and the more perfect the animal, the 
further removed they are from each other in their 
structure and nature. The likeness of one to the 
other is only one of remote analogy. And yet in 
their most perfect state, when by their nature they 
are most widely separated in their organic structure 
and in their conditions of life, it is often apparent 
that they were constructed with direct reference to 
each other. The first relationship which we notice 
is the perfect balance which has been established 
between them in their effect upon the air by their 
chemical action. Everything thrown off from an 
animal as waste material is not simply waste to him, 
but is either a poison to the air, or capable of soon 
becoming so. The carbonic acid from the lungs, 
and all the excretions formed by the waste of tis- 
sues, fill the air with poisons. 

But upon all the waste materials rejected by the 
animal system, the plants live. They sweep the 
carbonic acid from the air by their multitude of 
leaves, draw it from the soil by a thousand rootlets, 
and gather up the various organic compounds as 
they are ready to change to poison, and in the won- 
derful laboratory of their leafy tissue, they unlock 
and recombine the elements, giving back to us in 



140 Natural Theology. 

woody fibre, in starch and sugar, in the nutritious 
grains and dehcious fruits, those very materials 
which but for them would have generated deadly 
disease. They then throw back from the leaves 
the liberated oxygen, partly at least in that active 
form known as ozone, in which it is most efficient as 
a purifier of the air. Not only do the plants thus 
stand ready to save animals from the effect of their 
own poisoning influence upon the air, but they seem 
to have committed to them the task of protecting 
animal life from the poisons produced by general 
decomposition, both by gathering up the poison and 
also by some of them showing by their very pre- 
sence the existence of poisons, and thus warning 
intelligent man of his danger. 

On the stagnant pool the green film gathers, to 
many appearing the cause of disease, but in reality 
the safeguard which nature has prepared ; a thin 
veil with chemical power which she has spread 
over such places to gather up and condense a por- 
tion of the poisons, and to be a token of their pre- 
sence. Around our southern swamps she has hung 
the long moss in rich festoons upon the trees, and 
woven the thick barrier of climbers, through both 
of which much of the air is strained. 

The plants are thus more than a sign that poi- 
sons are generated there ; they feed upon and de- 
stroy them. 

In studying these relationships, it soon becomes 
apparent that the vegetable kingdom is in general 
subservient to the animal. The lower is made to 



Relation of Plants to Animals. 141 

serve the higher. Plants are directly or indirectly 
the support of all animal life. No animals, unless 
it be some of microscopic size, have power to live 
upon inorganic matter. If they have power to 
assimilate it at all, they have no power to assimilate 
a sufficient portion to sustain life. We have around 
us an abundance of all the elements upon which we 
daily live, but we have no power to take them in 
their common form. If left to ourselves we must 
starve in the midst of plenty. The plant feeds 
upon these elements or their inorganic compounds. 
Plants are the chemists, constantly working for the 
welfare of the animal kingdom, bringing the ele- 
ments within its power. If plants were destroyed, 
animal life would cease. For, though carnivorous 
animals may destroy others of the same kind, yet in 
the end we come back to those animals that live 
upon the fruits of the earth. 

There are some curious adaptations in the func- 
tion of certain plants, that show the relationship of 
one kingdom to the other, and this general subser- 
viency of the lower to the higher kingdom. Certain 
insects sting the oak and other plants, deposit their 
eggs in their stems or leaves, and then leave them 
there for the young to be developed. In some cases 
the young insect simply bores into the wood and 
forms a dwelling and finds food for himself The 
only adaptation here seems to be in the fitness of 
the material in which the ^gg was deposited by in- 
stinct, to supply the wants of the grub while active- 
ly providing for himself 



142 Natural Theology. 

But what can be more curious, I might truly say 
what more wonderful, than the different kinds of 
oak-galls or oak-apples, which are formed by the 
oak wherever the ^^g is deposited ! 

When the ^g^ is placed in its tissues, the oak 
at once by the very law of its being diverts a 
portion of the nutriment elaborated to enlarge its 
own trunk or fill its fruit, and forms a curious dwell- 
ing-place for the young insect, and not only forms 
the house but furnishes food. No animal by in- 
stinct ever fashioned a more curious structure for it- 
self or its young than the unthinking oak forms for 
the ^g% of its insect enemy that has been thrust 
upon it for protection and support. And these 
dwelling-places, though always built alike on the 
same kind of tree for the same insect, differ accord- 
ing to the kind of insects for which they are built. 
Other plants present the same phenomenon, and 
plants entirely unlike botanically. On some of the 
rose-bushes, these insect-houses are built and orna- 
mented until they are almost as beautiful as the 
opening bud itself The stalk of the golden-rod 
forms a large ball, in the centre of which you are 
sure to find the larval insect housed and provided 
for, or the empty tenement from which he has 
escaped to a higher form of life. These are but 
single examples of the adaptation of plants to the 
wants of the insect tribe. But every naturalist will 
recall a great number of kindred cases, in which the 
plant responds to the instinct of the animal, and 
completes, even at its own expense of vital energy, 



Fertilization of Plants. 143 

and sometimes in a most elaborate manner, the 
machinery that is needed to perfect the work which 
the instin6l of the animal has commenced. What 
chance should lead those insects to deposit their 
eggs in the very plants that are so ready to act the 
part of nurses, and supply by special provision all 
the wants of the young that come from those eggs ? 
How came these plants of different kinds to respond 
in these various ways so perfectly to the need of 
their animal foes ? We wonder at the provision 
which they make for their own young plantlets, we 
admire their general adaptation to the wants of the 
animal kingdom as food and purifiers of the air ; but 
when we see them building on one unvarying plan 
a dwelling-place for the insect young, and storing it 
with food, we cannot but recognise a power higher 
than that of insect or plant — the Creator of both, who 
ordained the laws of their being, who implanted in- 
stinct in the one, and made the other the willing 
servant of the higher form of life. 

There is a variety of contrivances by which in- 
sects fertilize plants. The structure of the flower 
and that of the bee are often adapted to each other, 
as much as the key to the lock. The honey poured 
out in the flower attracts the insect, and in his en- 
deavors to reach the precious fluid he indirectly 
benefits the plant. We might regard this as a mat- 
ter of accident were there but a single instance of 
it, or the same structure for all flowers. But when 
we see thousands of species of plants of varied 
forms, with their parts so arranged as to secure fer- 



144 Natural Theology. 

tilization by the aid of insects, and the drop of honey 
placed in the flower to attract them, we not only 
recognise design, but in a provision of such varied 
nature the idea of chance is excluded. If no honey 
is secreted in the flower, then it will be found that 
means have been provided adequate to produce fer- 
tilization without the aid of insects. There may be 
an abundance of pollen, and such a structure that 
the wind can do the work, as in the Indian-corn and 
pine, or some special arrangement of the parts of 
the flower to secure the result. It will be sufficient 
to mention a few cases from the many, of structure 
having reference to the action of bees in the pro- 
cess of fertilization. The cucumber and squash are 
good examples. These vines produce two kinds of 
flowers — the staminate oi»those producing the pollen, 
and the pistillate which produce the fruit. For the 
growth of these fruits it is necessary for the pollen 
to be transferred from one flower to the other. As 
the flowers are at considerable distance from each 
other, and protected from the winds, probably not 
one case would occur in a hundred flowers of the 
transference of pollen without the aid of insects. 
These plants therefore would seem defective if we 
consider their own structure alone. If left to their 
own action, the species would die out. In the Sand- 
wich Islands, where no bees are found, it is neces- 
sary to fertilize the large squashes by the labor of 
men. 

Where bees are found the work is completed by 
them. In each flower upon these vines, there is a 



special Structure, 145 

tiny cup of honey, carefully covered, but the cover 
so thin in three places that the proboscis of the bee 
pierces it with ease. While gathering the sweets 
of the staminate flower, she becomes covered with the 
pollen dust, because the stamens are so placed in 
the narrow tube of the flower that she cannot steal 
away the sweets secreted there without loading 
herself with the fertilizing powder. When now she 
lights in the pistillate flower, she takes its honey ; 
but in her eagerness, scatters from her wings and 
body the pollen grains upon the pistil, and thus 
secures the growth of the fruit. 

When we examine the structure of these flowers, 
their relation to the size of the bee, and consider 
the fact that. the honey, of no use directly to the 
plant, but a draft upon its energies, is ready to 
attract the bee when the pollen is fit for distribu- 
tion, we see a provision for the welfare of the flower 
of such a nature as to secure the enjoyment of a 
sentient being. The bee is not only provided for 
by following her instinct, but the following of her 
instinct is essential to the plant. They were both 
fashioned with reference to each other. In our 
pretty spring flower, the forget-me-not ( Oldenlan- 
dia ccerulea), we find a curious relation of the seed- 
producing organs. The stamens are always either 
much longer or much shorter than the pistil. When 
the bee visits a flower with long stamens the pollen 
is attached to the base of the proboscis ; when he 
visits a flower with long pistil, this pollen comes in 
contact with its stigma, and at the same time the 

7 



146 Natural Theology. 

middle of her proboscis is becoming covered with 
the pollen from its short stamens, to fertilize the 
plants with short pistils. But the most remarkable 
cases of special adaptation are found among the 
orchids which have been so carefully studied by 
Darwin. Many of the species cannot possibly fer- 
tilize themselves, and if shut out from insects, fail 
to produce seed. One, the Orchis pyramidalis, may 
be taken as a type of many in its special adaptations 
by which its structure and functions, the structure 
and instinct of the insect, are all combined to pro- 
duce the needed result. The structure of the flower 
is such that the proboscis must enter in a given di- 
rection ; this brings it in contact with the packets 
of pollen that adhere to it by a viscid -fluid, that has 
the chemical property of rapidly becoming solid 
when exposed to the air. The packets of pollen 
bend over as they dry, so as to take the exact posi- 
tion they ought to take to strike the stigmas of the 
next flower. Those stigmas are covered with a 
viscid fluid to which the grains of pollen adhere, and 
the work is done. What a complicated arrangement 
is here, and yet how perfect the result ! First, there 
is the form of the flower that guides the proboscis 
aright ; second, the position of the pollen packets all 
ready to be withdrawn ; third, the glue by which 
they are firmly fixed to the proboscis ; fourth, their 
hygrometric action, by which in drying they bend 
just far enough to bring each one in contact with 
the two stigmas of the next flower the insect visits ; 
and lastly, the glue upon the stigmas sufficiently 



Conchisio7u 147 

strong to rupture the packets of pollen and hold 
sufficient of it to fertilize the seed. 

But it may be asked, what need of all this machi- 
nery ? Would not as great wisdom as well as de- 
sign be manifested by a more simple contrivance, 
such as is found in other flowers that fertilize them- 
selves ? Among other answers which might be 
given, is this : It is undoubtedly a means of prevent- 
ing the formation of varieties in such plants in a 
wild state, and thus secures distinctness of specific 
forms. The design manifested in all that relates to 
varieties will demand our attention before these lec- 
tures are closed. We have now endeavored simply 
to show that a result is reached in a manner im- 
plying wisdom and skill in the adaptation of means 
to ends. 



LECTURE VI. 

PRODUCTION OF VARIETIES AND THEIR FINAL 

CAUSE 

Origin of species. — May be varied for a wise purpose. — Liv- 
i?ig and fossil for7ns, parts of one ivhole, — Four plans of 
structure. — Tlie rocks the true record. — May be mistrans- 
lated., but not cJiauged. — Unity of plan in the Divine 
mind. — Changes that favor developnient theory. — Quota- 
tion from Darwin. — Variation considered historically. — 
For a definite puipose. — Adapts species to wide geographi- 
cal raftge. — To man. — Definitio7i of varieties. — Cause not 
known. — Quotation from Gray. — Final cause. — Reference 
toman. — Beaiity of cjystal.— Difference in kitigdom of 
life. — Organs of plajits. — Anthers. — Petals.— Double flow- 
ers. — Propagation of double plants. — Fleshy fruits. — 
Idea of beajity i?i some piatits. — Of fruit i?i others. — Two 
series according to lines of dei'elopment. — Corn. -Sugar- 
cane. — Potato. — Tomato. — Indications in wild plants. — 
Exceptions. — Some plants for a double purpose. — Vegeta- 
ble kingdom for the aninial. — Appears pri7narily for it- 
self. — Multitude of germs. — Grains of wheat represetit 
food and plant life.— Use of soft fruits. — Plants and ani- 
inals constt'ucted for man as aji intellectual being. — /;/- 
crease of beauty not for the piaiit. — Varieties offer condi- 
tion of continual progress. — Development tJieory not Athe- 
istic. — Dicurable scepticism. — Geology must explain origin 
of species. — Law of variation^ evidence of desigji and 
wisdom. 

In our last lecture we considered some of the re- 
lations of plants to the world — the varied structure 
and nature by which different kinds are adapted to 
soil, to climate, and to our place in the solar system. 
It was also shown that plants have an obvious rela- 



Varieties. 



149 



tion to the animal kingdom, not only in counteract- 
ing the action of animals on the air and in furnish- 
ing them with food, but also in their adaptation to 
the structure and instinct of animals, completing, as 
they often do by their own growth, in a specific 
manner, the work which the instinct of the animal 
commenced. It was shown that the structure of the 
insect, its instinct, and the nature of the plant growth, 
are all three often needed to complete the relation of 
the animal and the plant to the world, so that certain 
species in both kingdoms may be preserved. 

There still remains another characteristic of or- 
ganic beings that has given rise to much discussion 
among scientific men. I refer to the production of 
varieties, or different kinds, from the same stock. 
The fact is not only acknowledged, but modified 
forms are springing up almost every year in the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms. We do not pro- 
pose to discuss the scientific tests that are proposed 
for distinguishing species from varieties ; but we 
wish to show that the power of producing varieties 
is one of the means by which organic beings are 
better fitted to the world, and to the wants of man, 
and that in the nature and final results of many of 
these changes it becomes apparent that the wis- 
dom of their production cannot be vindicated on 
any other supposition than that they were made 
with direct reference to man. This might involve 
the whole discussion of what constitutes a species, 
and how species come into existence. We have not 
time to enter fully upon that discussion. As to the 



150 Natural Theology. 

origin and permanence of species, the best natu- 
ralists are not agreed. We accept the theory of a 
distinct creation for each species. Each species 
thus represents a distinct creative idea. The species 
may be varied for a wise purpose, without losing its 
essential characteristics. Thousands of new kinds 
of apples have been produced from the same stock, 
but no fruit was ever raised from an apple-seed that 
would be mistaken for a peach or pear ; so that there 
has not been shown to be the slightest tendency 
in the apple to change to an)^ other kind of fruit. 
This is what we mean by saying that the creative 
idea is never lost amid all the changes in the pro- 
duction of varieties. We do not regard the doctrine 
of the distinct creation of each species as essential at 
all to the argument for the existence and attributes 
of God. We accept it on purely scientific grounds, 
believing fully that science and the Bible here agree. 
But we must acknowledge, whether the species have 
come into existence by direct creation or by sec- 
ondary causes, that there is a systematic connection 
running back through all the geologic ages. The 
animals in the rocks belong to strange forms in- 
deed ; but in all their strangeness, they yet show 
connection with those now living. But it is the 
same sort of connection we should expect to find 
among the creations of the same Being, who with 
wisdom and skill varied His work only according to 
the conditions in which it was to be placed. He 
has indeed His own distinct types running back as 
far as animal life is found. And the ancient tribes 



Plans of Stnichire. 151 

are so allied to those now existing that the fossil 
and living animals make one grand whole, the lines 
of the great plans of creation never crossing. Each 
plan is like an order in architecture, giving diversity 
in execution, but never entirely losing its identity. 
The marked difference in the plan of structure in 
the four great divisions of animal life, in which plan 
can be fully recognised, is a great point against 
development theories ; and even in the same division 
it seems impossible that all the diverse forms should 
have originated from one. Who can persuade him- 
self that all the different kinds of shells that can be 
found upon any beach, were derived from the same 
stock } But it is said that they shade into each 
other, and so attempts have been made to ignore all 
dividing lines as drawn in nature. We acknow- 
ledge the existence of the intermediate forms, and 
we admit that varieties have been mistaken for 
species ; but notwithstanding this, as science ad- 
vances, distinct plans of structure stand out in 
clearer light, and we believe that distinct plans of 
creation and distinct creations of species will be 
recognised as the teachings of the rocks of the earth. 
They are the great historic record of the change in 
animal life ; to them must be our final appeal. And 
we feel thankful for such a book as this ; a book 
which will be more and more read while the world 
stands — a book which no man ever has altered, and 
no man can alter. He may mistranslate it ; but the 
text remains unchanged, and coming generations 
may read for themselves. 



152 Natural Theology. 

Whatever theory we may adopt as to the introduc- 
tion of species on the globe, we must all acknowledge 
the same order of succession in animal life. From 
this there is no escape ; for that grand old volume, 
the earth, is full of these forms, varied as the strata 
of rocks rise one above another. And what a grand 
history is here recorded of creative power ! What 
wisdom, skill, and unity of plan are revealed ! The 
mountain-tops and the deep valleys unite in declar- 
ing that the march of animal and vegetable life, 
through all the vast ages of rock formation, was 
under the guidance and power of a Being who saw 
the end from the beginning, and moved on the grand 
succession, from the lowest forms of the Silurian 
age to the creation of man. We believe this unity 
of plan was in the Divine Mind alone, and that the 
varied tribes were the direct creation of His hand. 

While we believe this to be the teaching of the 
rocks, it is freely acknowledged that there are 
changes in organic beings that favor the development 
theory. Distinct kinds of plants and animals have 
appeared within the historic period. In fact, new 
kinds may appear every year, as is well understood 
by every intelligent gardener. These new varieties 
are regarded by some as incipient species, which in 
time will become permanent in form and take their 
place among those that are now recognised as spe- 
cies. And since we find so many kinds of plants 
originating from the same stock, all our apples, for 
example, coming undoubtedly from one kind, what 
might we not expect as the result of this variation 



Origin of Species. 153 

continued not only through the thousands of years 
that history records, but for the unmeasured ages 
of geologic time ? If greenings, and russets, and 
Baldwins, and hundreds of other kinds, can in a few 
years be originated from one kind, why might it 
not be found, if we could go back millions of years, 
that oaks, and pines, and elms, and peaches, all came 
from the same stock ? This is the question which a 
real believer in development propounds to us. We 
5ee similar changes constantly going on in animals 
as well as in plants. 

How very unlike the different breeds of horses, 
all springing from the same stock ! Now since the 
different breeds of horses have, within comparatively 
few years, sprung from the same stock, if we could 
go back millions of years, why might we not find 
that horses and cattle and beasts of every kind 
sprang from the same stock .-* 

This is the second question which the real deve- 
lopment theorist puts to us ; and then to be consis- 
tent, he adds : since man as a physical being is an 
animal, if we go back far enough, why may we not 
find him to be a branch from the same stock, mak- 
ing his way up by development through the line of 
monkeys to his present high position ) And that 
we may know just how it is supposed this variation 
may be brought about, I quote from Darwin, the 
great champion of the modern development theory : 

" In North America, the black bear was seen by 
Hearne swimming for hours, with widely open 
mouth, thus catching, like the whale, insects in the 



154 Natural Theology, 

water. Even in so extreme a case as this, if the sup- 
ply of insects were constant, and if better adapted 
competitors did not already exist in the country, I 
can see no difficulty in a race of bears being ren- 
dered by natural selection more and more aquatic 
in their structure and habits, with larger and larger 
mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous 
as the whale." 

We have in this extract a good illustration of the 
changes in structure which it is claimed can be 
produced by use of organs or by habits of the animal. 

The principle of variation of species and natural 
selection, say the development theorists, is enough 
to account for all the distinctions we observe in 
those kinds that are recognised as species. Now 
let us see how this fact of variation stands histori- 
cally. When we point to the rocks as proof of dis- 
tinct creations, we are told that this record is only 
imperfectly read as yet, and so the transition forms 
have not been found. When we appeal to living 
forms, we defy them to produce a single instance in 
which anything but an apple has been raised from 
an apple-seed. Untold kinds of apples have been 
produced, but we wait for the first fruit to be raised 
from an apple-seed that the most unlearned in 
botany would not know to be apple. The same 
constancy of species is found in all our fruits that 
vary most. We see by this that in all the variation, 
there are certain bounds beyond which it cannot go. 
It never blots out the creative idea in the plant. 
And the same is true of animals. Has there, in all 



Variation. 155 

the variations, been a single instance where the 
type of the animal was really changed ? Would not 
all horses be recognised as horses the world over ? 
We find in all these cases certain distinct lines be- 
yond which variation never goes. When it is said 
that the horse and the ox may have come from the 
same stock, not a particle of historical proof can be 
given in support of it. And when it is said that 
ma.n descended from the apes, it is a mere gratui- 
tous lowering of human dignity. 

Now the fact of variation being granted, we be- 
lieve it can be shown that it is not accidental, but 
that it works for a definite purpose and within pre- 
scribed limits. As this variation among organic 
beings is a strong point with those who would either 
theorize God out of the universe, or rob Him of the 
character of a Creator, except as one acting through 
secondary agencies, creating thousands of defective 
forms to die out, for one perfect enough to hold its 
place in the world ; in fine, of those who would in any 
way ignore the Bible account of creation — we shall 
be justified in treating the final cause of varieties at 
considerable length. And in doing this we shall 
have to introduce other material, that we may show 
how variation harmonizes with other characteristics 
to better fit the species for the world. If species 
were the direct creation of a wise Being, as the Bi- 
ble declares, we should expect to find them endowed 
with properties fitting them to be of most use in the 
world, and that those most needful for man would 
have powers and capabilities adapting them to his 



156 Ndtiiral Theology. 

nature as a physical and intellectual being. We 
think it can be shown that the power of producing 
varieties is the great means of adapting species to a 
wide geographical range, and to the wants of man 
as he increases in civilization and capacity to enjoy 
the beautiful and good. If this can be shown, we 
take the production of varieties from the category 
of chance, and show in it the highest, far-reaching, 
wise, and benevolent design. 

Accepting, then, the common definition of varie- 
ties in the organic kingdom, we regard them as 
forms produced by the variation of species. The 
cause of this variation has never been explained. It 
was formerly referred to soil and climate, but pro- 
bably the only account that will ever be given is : 
such is the nature of species. 

It is a law written on the plant and animal, that 
in their development there shall be variation from 
the original stock, but only in certain directions. 
On this point we quote the language of a distin- 
guished scientific man* who has lately written much 
upon this subject. It would be difficult to find in 
the writings of any other author all that we really 
know on this subject condensed into so few words : 

" The former {variation^ has never yet been shown 
to have its cause in external influences, nor to occur 
at random. As we have elsewhere insisted, if not 
inexplicable, it has never been explained ; all that 
we can yet say is, that plants and animals are prone 
to vary, and that some conditions favor variation." 

* Professor Asa Gray. 



Filial Cazise, 157 

We thus confess our ignorance of the natural 
causes that produce variation. We propose to dis- 
cuss xX.'s, final cause. This impUes that there is in 
it a purpose. If there is in the variation of objects 
in nature, a purpose, that purpose must have rela- 
tion to the objects themselves, or to some other be- 
ings connected with them or in some way related 
to them. In all arrangements merely for the good 
of the object itself, final cause or purpose may be 
denied. It may be said that the thing exists be- 
cause it happens to have a constitution fitting it for 
the mode of existence in which we find it. We 
shall therefore confine ourselves, in this discussion, 
mainly to those contrivances that seem to have rela- 
tion to something out of the object in which they 
are found. But our special aim will be to show that 
all variation from original forms in the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms, especially in the higher kinds, 
is not in general for the good of the object in which 
it occurs, but for the good of other beings in some 
way related to it. We think it will readily appear 
to any careful observer, that much of the variation 
in both of these kingdoms has special reference to 
man as an intellectual and moral being. But we 
shall, for want of time, confine our present exami- 
nation mainly to plants. It would be most natural, 
perhaps, to commence with the mineral kingdom, 
had we time for a full discussion of the subject. 

And we might inquire : For what end is the beauty 
of the crystal ? Certainly it is not for the crystal 
itself We have great beauty in the primary crys- 



158 Natural Theology. 

tal. But the law of secondary forms adds new 
beauty, by the variety it gives in modifying, with 
mathematical exactness, the faces and angles of the 
primary. We may be told that there is no design 
in all this arrangement of matter. It is so, is all 
that we can say. Because we admire the beauty of 
the crystal, and wonder at this law by which its 
beauty is increased, we are told that we are not to 
believe that the original beauty of the gem, or that 
the law of variation, was made for us, or with any 
reference to us. Nor are we to believe, necessarily, 
that they were made at all. They are — they always 
have been ; and they would be the same they now 
are, were there no intelligent being in the universe 
to behold them. We may believe that they have a 
purpose, or not. If one doubts it, there is certainly 
little room for argument. When the facts are stated, 
different minds will be differently affected by them, 
and argument will have little effect upon either 
class. 

But when we study the kingdom of life, the facts 
that meet us are entirely different in kind. There 
is here a succession of beings, descending one from 
another ; there is a complicated machinery by 
which the individual is built up and preserved. It 
is certainly a legitimate inquiry : For what purpose 
is each part of these beings .'' For what purpose — 
or, if any object to this word — for what use are the 
various organs of the plant } To answer this ques- 
tion is the work of the botanist. He examines the 
root, the stem, the leaf, the flower, and the fruit. 



Use of Petals, 159 

In this investigation he has been successful, so that 
most of the plant machinery is now understood in 
its relations to the individual plant, and to the suc- 
cession of plants. 

Who doubts the use of the root and leaf in taking 
up and elaborating nutriment for the plant ? Who 
doubts the use of the anther in producing pollen, 
or of the pollen grains in fertilizing the seed? Al- 
though we may be uncertain about the use of 
some parts, it does not affect the certainty of our 
knowledge respecting those we have mentioned. 
But these are for the use of the plant. Let us push 
our inquiries further, and see if we can find in the 
structure of the plant any contrivances, or in its 
development any variations of form, not required 
by the economy of the plant itself We omit for 
the present all discussion as to the method by 
which these were produced, or how they came to 
be ; but simply inquire if there are such. For what 
purpose are the petals of the flower, the crown of 
beauty to the plant t Certainly they are not abso- 
lutely essential in the production of seed, for many 
plants are without them. And if in any case they 
are deemed essential, certainly the beautiful pattern 
of the petal, its numberless modifications and deli- 
cate tints, adjusted with masterly accuracy, are not 
necessary parts in the economy of plants. Of what 
use to the plant is that row of sterile flowers that 
adorns so many of our compositce, the Rudbeckias, 
and helianths ; or that curious circle of sterile 
flowers bordering the cymes of hydrangeas and 



i6o Natural Theology. 

some of our viburnums ? We may be told that 
they have no use, or that these apparently useless 
parts will at some time be found to be of importance 
in the economy of the plant, aiding directly or indi- 
rectly in the perpetuation of the species, as the 
honey of the plant attracts bees, and thus secures 
the continuance of the species by the fertilization 
of the seed. We will go one step further, then, and 
ask : What end is subserved by double flowers ? 
All agree that one use of the flower is to produce 
seed. But the perfectly double flower loses the 
organs of reproduction. The rose unfolds its 
stamens and pistils into petals, and thus gains in 
beauty, till it becomes the perfection of a flower, 
but always at the expense of seed. What use, in 
the economy of the plant, does the flower subserve 
when it can no longer produce seed } It does not 
perpetuate the species, so that this variation cannot 
be for the production of new species, and more than 
this, it is a draft upon the nutriment that would 
otherwise go to build up the plant that produces it. 
By becoming double, the flower has ceased to be of 
advantage either to the species or the individual 
plant. But does nature thus defeat her own ends, 
and provide for the destruction of some species by 
the very law of their growth t Not at all. In 
every plant, which by cultivation is so far changed 
as to lose the power of producing seed, there is some 
other provision for the propagation of the plant, as 
by slips, by grafting, by bulblets, and the like. 
Nature seems thus to provide, in the structure of 



Apple and Peach. i6i 

other parts of these plants, for the development of 
their flowers in the line of beauty at the expense 
of seed. And when annual plants become truly 
double, they at the same time become perennial. 

Let us examine another group of plants, belong- 
ing to the same natural order as the rose. For 
what purpose is the fruit of the apple-tree, the pear- 
tree, and the peach } Their seed is evidently for 
the propagation of the species. But still we ask : 
For what purpose are the apple and the peach ? The 
germ is in the seed or within the stone. The 
economy of the plant does not require that the 
covering of the seeds should be increased in quan- 
tity or heightened in flavor, for the seeds come 
to their fullest development in the unchanged native 
fruit. If the improvement in size and flavor is not 
for the seed, it has no relation to the plant. And 
probably no candid person will contend that the 
change in cultivated fruits which renders them more 
valuable to man, has any more relation to the wants 
of the individual plant, or of the species, than the 
milk of the mother has to her own wants. If this 
change has any purpose at all, it is for something 
outside of the plant. The seed is not for the plant 
that produces it, but for the species. 

The change of covering, as already indicated, is 
of no advantage to the seed. Its increase in size is 
therefore a draft upon the tree, without having any 
relation to the species. So far as the economy of 
the plant is concerned, it is a mistake. The machi- 
nery is out of order. There is an absolute throwing 



1 62 Natural Theology. # 

away of material and of vital energy, and this goes 
on, as in some oranges and grapes, till no seeds are 
formed. 

We are now prepared to introduce and illustrate 
certain propositions which seem warranted by plant 
development. 

1. In some plants the idea of beauty is the most 
prominent idea, inasmuch as under the best cultiva- 
tion the variation of these plants is always in the line 
of beauty either in the flower or leaf 

The beauty of the flower, the rose, for example, 
often increases at the expense of the reproductive 
organs, until the power of producing seed is lost. 

2. In other plants utility of fruit is the prominent 
idea, as in the apple and the peach. Such plants, 
under careful cultivation, produce larger and more 
delicious kinds of fruit, without increase of beauty 
in the flower. 

3. From these two propositions another follows : 
that the plants best known to us from long-con- 
tinued cultivation can be readily divided into two 
great series, without reference to their botanical 
relationship, but according to their lines of develop- 
ment. In one series titility of fruit is the prominent 
idea ; and in the other, bcaiUy of flower or leaf ; as 
under the best cultivation these series are developed 
in these two directions respectively. 

The idea of utility is not manifested by fruit alone. 
The sugar of the sugar-cane constitutes its utility, 
while that of the Indian-corn lies in its grain. These 
plants, so nearly allied botanically, are developed in 



^ Changes Indicated. 163 

these two directions, according to the leading idea 
in their products. The apple and the rose already 
referred to, belong to the same botanical family ; yet 
they are developed, in nearly all their variations, in 
opposite directions. 

The potato has for its leading idea the formation 
of underground stems or tubers ; while its brother, 
the tomato, has for its idea the production of a fruit 
corresponding in structure to the potato-grape. 
They show this in all their variations. In the pine- 
tree the leading idea is wood, and in the mint, essen- 
tial oil. But in such plants as do not readily pro- 
duce varieties the line of development is determined 
with difficulty. 

4. Some plants in their native state give indica- 
tions of the kind of change likely to take place in 
them by cultivation. The rose, for example, by its 
large corolla in comparison with the fruit, shows that 
change of flower is most likely to take place. In the 
apple, the large, fleshy fruit indicates a tendency to 
variation and improvement in that direction. The 
viburnum opiilus, the hydrangea, and other plants, by 
the circle of . sterile flowers, much larger and more 
beautiful than the fertile flowers, indicate change in 
the direction of beauty. Those beautiful circles of 
sterile flowers in some of our native shrubs, and the 
neutral rays of some of our compositae, may be re- 
garded as ornaments, rather than as of use in the 
economy of the plant. When, therefore, a new plant 
is brought under cultivation, there is little doubt in 
what direction it will vary, if at all. The increase 



164 NatiLval Theology. • 

of beauty in the flower by doubling, and the increase 
of the frutt in size, beauty, and flavor, are of no ad- 
vantage to the fruit itself, nor to the species ; but 
in some cases they are a draft upon the plant for no 
purpose in its own economy. 

5. Those plants that by variation lose the power 
of producing seed, can always be propagated in 
other ways, as by slips or bulbs. Nature, as though 
careful for the preservation of the species, never 
allows any plant, by its own law of growth, to lose 
the power of producing seed, unless she has given 
to it means other than the seed, for the perpetuation 
of its kind. 

6. Variation is most common and rapid in those 
plants which are most useful to man for cultivation, 
and which must go with him over most of the earth. 
It may be said that they are most useful because 
they happen to vary ; but their readiness to vary, 
certainly was not the cause of their first cultivation. 
They were selected for some particular good, as for 
fruit, or for beauty of flower, or leaf, or some other 
desirable property. The characteristic for which 
each one was first selected, is the leading idea of the 
plant ; and in that direction all its variations under 
cultivation have tended. The rose, in all its vari- 
eties, is to-day cultivated for the same reason for 
which it was first cultivated, for its beauty ; the 
apple-tree for its fruit, the sugar-cane for its sweet- 
ness, and so on, through the list of cultivated plants. 
We might multiply propositions and examples, if our 
space allowed. As they would not differ in kind> 



Apparent Exceptions. 165 

they are not needed for the argument. Apparent 
exceptions to the propositions already stated may 
undoubtedly be pointed out, for it is well understood 
by naturalists that nature does nothing per saltuni. 
Hardly a group of plants can be examined in which 
there will not be found one or more that the fami- 
ly description will not embrace, in all particulars. 
There are also some plants so valuable for several 
purposes, that it would be difficult to determine, in 
every case, the leading idea. They are made for a 
double purpose, and may develop in either direction. 
The apple-tree, with double blossoms, or the tomato, 
with tubers upon it, would not, therefore, with any 
candid person, affect the bearing of the propositions. 
If a law of nature is really discovered, all exceptions 
are either merely apparent, or if real, are found to 
be special provisions for some wise purpose. It is 
the general law of variation that we now wish to 
present for consideration, in the propositions just 
enunciated. If these propositions have any signifi- 
cance, to what do they tend t Certainly to show 
that the vegetable kingdom is not an end to itself 
Men and animals do not make use of plants because 
they happen to be what they are ; but the plants 
are constituted as they are, for the sake of the ani- 
mal kingdom, and many of them with a direct refer- 
ence to man as an intellectual and moral being. It 
is by the law of variation of species that they are 
most perfectly fitted for these high purposes. 

In almost every department of plant life, the 
changes can be referred primarily to the good of the 



1 66 Natural Theology. 

plant itself; and thus it is easy to say, and no doubt 
some believe, that there is in them no purpose 
other than the continuance of the species, if any 
purpose at all. The cereals — wheat, rye, barley, 
Indian-corn, and rice — furnish the great bulk of food 
for the human race. We have no doubt that most 
men will believe that they were made for this pur- 
pose, and not that they happened to be what they 
are, or that the primary object in importance was 
that they might propagate their kind, and that the 
support of animal life was no part of the plan, but 
accidental or subsidiary. 

Yet there is much that seems to favor the theory 
that all the machinery of fruiting is for the continu- 
ance of species alone. If the germ fails to be fertil- 
ized by the pollen, no sugar, nor starch, nor gluten, 
is stored up in the seed for man. But when the 
pollen has touched the germ, there is power of inde- 
pendent life, and from that moment all the energies 
of the plant are taxed to store the kernel with food ; 
but food for what t For whom .? For the young 
plant, all agree. It puts in the seed the food which 
the germ needs for its support, till its roots and 
leaves are large enough to collect from the earth 
and air the crude materials and elaborate them for 
use. 

For what purpose is the starch garnered up in the 
potato, and the sugar in the beet, the carrot, and the 
parsnip } We shall be told that they are stored up 
for the plants themselves, to supply the great draft 
made upon them in producing fruit. We cannot 



Certainty of Propagation. 167 

deny it, nor do we wish to do so. We love to con- 
template the parent plant providing for every one 
of the thousand plantlets folded in its seeds, des- 
tined to beautify the earth when its own withered 
stalk has passed away. Would that men might learn 
a lesson from it, and provide for their offspring 
enough, and only enough, for their wants till able 
to provide for themselves. We can hardly help ad- 
miring the seeming prudence of the honest beet and 
parsnip, that industriously gather stores of food the 
first year for the flowering time, when both root and 
leaves would fail to supply their wants. In all these 
things we have been compelled to recognise a wis- 
dom and a skill that thus arranged the machinery 
of the plant. 

But in the very arrangement for the plant itself, 
there seems to shine forth a higher and nobler pur- 
pose. In the multitude of seeds, an apparent waste 
of energy, there seems to be a provision for their 
legitimate destruction by a higher creation. And 
if the grain of wheat fails to fill unless the germ is 
there, who does not see that it is better for man 
that it should be so } It is best for him that every 
grain of wheat should represent both so much food, 
and also a certain centre of new plant life. With 
what uncertainty would the husbandman sow his 
field, if perchance only one in a thousand of the pre- 
cious grains scattered on the furrow would give the 
green blade, and, in time of harvest, the full ear ! 
He who regards the support of animal life as the 
highest use of the vegetable kingdom, must also see 



1 68 Natural Theology. 

that certainty of propagation is of prime importance 
in the plants already mentioned. 

But we have perhaps too far prolonged thjs dis- 
cussion on this provision in plant life, for the produc- 
tion of food. We readily grant that in the major- 
ity of cases, the food for animals is produced in a 
way that seems primarily for the benefit of the plant, 
as an individual or species. To some it may appear 
to be prepared solely for the plant. To this, how- 
ever, we think there are plain exceptions ; and among 
them we mention again our soft fruits, which are 
the envelope, or mere accompaniment of the seed. 
The seeds need a covering, it is true. But why 
should the covering of the apple-seed give the thou- 
sand kinds of this delicious fruit, of every tint and 
flavor, and varied time of ripening.? Why do the 
pear and peach vie with the apple in the diversified 
forms and flavors they offer.-* Why does the straw- 
berry enlarge its receptacle into that most delicious 
fruit } Why does the grape bury its seeds in such 
a luscious pulp, and sometimes form the pulp with- 
out the seed.-* That the perfection and variety of 
the soft portion of such fruits play any part in the 
economy of the plant, no one will probably contend. 
The pulp of the grape represents to man so much 
food. If it forms without seed, it is the cause of no 
indirect injury, as the filling of wheat-grains with- 
out the germ would be, because it never represents 
new plant life. If the soft fruits have no purpose 
except to cover the seed, their increase in size, and 
improvement in flavor, are a mistake. The native 



Ulterior Purpose. 169 

apple, in all its harshness ; the frost grapes, which 
the animals allow to fall, with their seeds untouched, 
unless driven to eat them or starve ; the peach, in 
its hard covering, and the button pear, which no 
cooking can fully conquer — all these are for the 
plant the perfection of fruits. Such fruits perfect 
and protect their seeds. 

But our Black Hamburghs and Sweet-waters, our 
Pippins and Bartletts, are mistakes, and evidences 
of want of design in such plants, if they have no 
end out of themselves ; for all these variations from 
the original stock either weaken the seed or invite 
to its destruction. Because they are of no advan- 
tage to the plant, must we grant that they are a 
mistake, or without significance ? By no means. 
Nor do we think it possible for the majority of men 
ever to believe that we have not here a direct pro- 
vision for the animal kingdom, as a whole, and for 
man in particular ; a provision that shows wisdom, 
though through it plant-life is made entirely second- 
ary. The continuance of the species must be pro- 
vided for by some means, or its creation would be a 
failure. This being done, sometimes by one method, 
and sometimes by another, all the parts of the plant, 
not needed for propagation, may be modified for the 
benefit of this higher kingdom. It seems to us that 
all these modifications indicate this ulterior purpose, 
to which the interests of the plant, so to speak, are 
made to yield. We have no doubt, indeed, the three 
kingdoms of nature are all arranged with reference 
to man, especially as an intellectual and moral being. 

8 



I/O Natural Theology. 

We have already referred to crystallography, and we 
shall, in a future lecture, enter into the considera- 
tion of chemical combinations, in their relation to 
man. We never could see how the plan of struc- 
ture, the whole science of homologies in the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms, could be fully comprehend- 
ed by any one, without the recognition of a direct 
provision for man as an intellectual being. Animals 
and plants are constructed with parts apparently for 
no other purpose than to show their true place in 
the organic kingdom. We believe that they are 
thus linked together by homologous parts that they 
might be comprehended by man, that he might more 
surely trace the plan of the Great Architect. 

We believe this also, without reference to the 
question whether these parts came to be as they are 
through secondary causes or by direct creation. 

In the provision made for the increase of beauty 
in the flower by doubling, there is certainly no 
reference to the welfare of the plant, for beauty 
increases at the expense of the seed, the final cause, 
or one use of the flower, as all will allow. When 
we see this tendency to variation in such a multi- 
tude of flowers ; when we see it confined to those 
plants having methods of propagation other than 
the seed ; when we see this tendency conferring no 
possible benefit upon the individual plant nor upon 
the species ; when we see what a source of enjoy- 
ment this law is to man in his highest cultivation, 
we might say, how necessary for that highest culti- 
vation — can we doubt for what purpose this law of 



Condition of Progress. 171 

variation was given ? Who can fail to feel that the 
plant is not for itself ; but so far as it seems to be 
for itself, it is that it may exist ; that it exists for a 
higher kingdom, and that the final cause of plant 
variation is found mainly in the wants of man, 
not only as a physical, but also as an intellectual 
being. 

There is another significance of varieties, besides 
their adaptations to these wants of man, although 
to some it may seem a mere accident. We refer to 
the conditions thus presented to man for continual 
progress. In consequence of this wonderful law of 
varieties, there is opened the possibility of continued 
improvement ; to reach the limit of this improve- 
ment is impossible. Were it true that each species 
produced from age to age the same identical form 
without variation, whenever each species was 
secured, all would be done that could be done in 
that direction. We have but one species of apple. 
From this have been produced hundreds of distinct 
kinds. 

There might, indeed, have been as many distinct 
species created in the beginning. But even then, 
all that could be done, would be to secure the kinds 
created. In consequence of this wonderful law, the 
same end is reached as in the creation of number- 
less distinct species, and in a manner far better for 
man. From one species have sprung unnumbered 
forms ; the next year may produce others still more 
desirable, and the next year others better still, and 
so on for ever. It is impossible for man to say that 



172 Natural Theology. 

he has now the most delicious apple, peach, or pear, 
or the most beautiful rose, or the most prolific vari- 
ety of corn possible. The next year a better apple, 
a more beautiful rose, a more prolific variety of 
corn may be produced, and this shall be true for 
ever. 

There is thus laid in this law of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms the surest condition of a con- 
tinued progress in man. The possibility of better 
forms is ever saying to him, Onward ! Upward ! 

In thus viewing the law of variations in all its 
manifestations, we have forced upon us the convic- 
tion that, while it sometimes has reference undoubt- 
edly to the plant or animal itself in the preservation 
of the species in its higher manifestations, espe- 
cially in the vegetable kingdom, it is for something 
out of the plant, and for a higher creation — the 
animal kingdom ; above all, for man as a rational 
creature. If all these things were created by an 
infinitely wise Being, this is what we should expect. 
If they were created directly, we should expect it ; 
if through secondary causes operating through my- 
riads of years, we should expect the same. 

And so at this point we are ready to say that we 
do not see the atheistical tendency of the so-called 
development theory at all, except so far as it has a 
tendency to remove us further from God in nature, 
and in this way make it easier for men to forget 
Him or doubt His existence. What difference can 
it make in our belief in the existence, the wisdom, 
or the power of God, whether he created the first 



Microscopic Germ. 173 

oak as a tree or as a germ, that through secondary 
causes — the sunUght, the air, and the rain — should 
expand into the oak ? The microscopic germ, with 
this force lodged in it, that determines the growth 
of the oak, the form and strength of every fibre, the 
outline of every leaf, the outward sculpture and in- 
ward structure of every acorn that shall cover it for 
a hundred years, is as much a proof of infinite wis- 
dom and almighty power as the oak in its perfec- 
tion. If one fails to be proof, the other must. If, 
to go further, we were to suppose a single germ to 
be placed upon this globe, which, with untold ages 
for its development, should give rise to all the myr- 
iad forms of vegetable and animal life, with all their 
wonderful relations to each other, as the germ of 
the oak develops into the tree ; the root, the stem, 
the leaf, the flower, and the fruit, all unlike, but hav- 
ing a relation to each other — if we could believe 
that from one such germ all life upon our globe had 
sprung, would it shake our belief for one moment in 
God, or alter our conception of His character } Do 
we look upon the trees and the animals around us, 
upon our own bodies, as any the less the work of 
God, or evidence of His existence and illustrative of 
His character, because produced through secondary 
causes, than they would be if they came full grown 
from the hand of God, as we believe that Adam 
came 1 If one looks at his own body, and fails to 
see so much of purpose there as to imply a designer, 
then he would fail to see it if he were created full 
grown. There is a certain kind or degree of seep- 



1/4 Natural Theology. 

ticism for which there is no cure ; it is an incapa- 
city to weigh proof. This may exist in connection 
with great learning and great power of scientific in- 
vestigation. Where this defect exists, all labor spent 
in accumulating proof is labor lost. When you have 
presented one object to a man in clear sunlight and 
he cannot see it, you know he is blind, and no accu- 
mulation of objects will enable him to see. This 
principle was forcibly illustrated by our Saviour, when 
He represented Abraham as saying : " If they hear 
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be 
persuaded though one rose from the dead." 

We consider the decision of the question how 
animals and plants came upon this globe to be a 
matter of investigation as to facts. How that ques- 
tion will be ultimately decided we have no doubt. 
Biologists can throw light upon many dark points, 
but it is upon geology that we must mainly rely for 
facts. We have not seen any strong argument made 
out, none that leads us to believe that geology has 
yet given any satisfactory testimony in favor of the 
development theory. We have attempted to show 
that variation is what we should expect to find in 
species created by a wise Being. And if we are 
threatened with the authority of great names on the 
opposite side, we will not be dismayed while we 
have on our book-shelves the works of the same great 
men, in which the opposite view is most ably main- 
tained. We can afibrd to wait, certainly, till they 
have refuted their own arguments, unless we get 
new light in other directions. When the truth 



Result of Variation. 175 

comes, we are not only bound to receive it, but are 
ready to do so. 

We welcome all labors of the development the- 
orists, and feel thankful for them. We welcome 
them as contributions to science. 

We never read a more convincing work on natu- 
ral theology than Darwin's book on the Fertilization 
of Orchids. We have no doubt that he and his 
colaborers are accumulating weapons that will yet 
batter down his philosophy and the leading theory 
upon which it rests. " We heartily adopt," says a 
distinguished scientific man, " the science of Darwin, 
but not his philosophy." 

The distinction is a just one ; and such a spirit 
will guide us safely. The subject of variations, 
which we have been discussing, has given rise to 
the development theory. We accept the facts of 
variation and the influence of " natural selection," 
but not the inferences that are drawn from them. 

We see the need of variations for the best good 
of the world, for man himself If provided for in 
the creation of certain species, and those species 
most useful to man, we see in this a mark of wis- 
dom as much as in the adaptation of the parts of 
our bodies to each other, or of our bodies to the 
external v/orld. 

We regard, then, the law of variation as a means 
of preserving the species under certain circum- 
stances, and as a means of better fitting beings for 
their various uses, and not as the creator of the 
being, nor in any sense the originator of the species. 



1/6 Natural Theology. 

Variation is the quality of a species, and not its 
producer. We see nothing yet to shake this belief, 
and we see no theory of creation more simple or 
plausible than the Bible account. 



LECTURE VII. 

CHEMICAL ELEMENTS AND THEIR MUTUAL RELATION. 

Argument for design may rest 07i collocation alone. — Charac- 
ter of Creator learned from the very proofs of His exist- 
ence. — Ahiinber of eleuients known. — Results secured by 
their nature and relative qiiantity. — Fixed laws of combi- 
nation. — Neither matter nor force lost. — Pillars of organic 
life. — Evidence of design in the constitution of matter. — 
Equilibriu7n^ how restored iti the four elements. — Balanced 
affinity. — NatJire of their compounds. — Oxygen specially 
considered. — Its compounds. — The air. — Original co7idition 
of matter. — Oxygen in the air a residual S2tbstajice. — Essen- 
tial to animals. — Helps fonn the tissues and secures activi- 
ty. — Produces artificial light a7id heat. — Co77i77io7t and act- 
ive state. — Ozo7ie. — Affinity of oxyge7i varied by te77tpera- 
ture. — Hydroge7i. — Basis of fla77ie. — Its i7ifla77t77iable C07n- 
pou7ids. — Co77ibi7iation of properties fitti7ig it for a light- 
producer. — Co77ibi7ies with carbo7i to prodiice light. — 821771- 
7nation of properties. — Its fit7iess for orga7iic structures. — 
Co7istant cha7ige i7i a7ii77tal bodies. — Relatio7i of hydroge7i 
to 7iitrogen. — Nitroge7i adds to weight of at77iosphere. — 
Moderates the action of hydroge7i. — Negative properties. — 
A^ature of its co77ipou7ids. — Carbo7i. — Differe7it for77is. — 
S7ipple77ie7its hydroge7i in co77ibustio7i. — As a7i ele77te7it., al- 
ways solid. — Coal. — Indestructible at co77t7non te77iperature. 
— Carbo7iic acid. 

In our last lecture we considered the law of varia- 
tion among species, by which varieties are produced 
in the animal and vegetable kingdom. That sub- 
ject completed all we have to say of the adaptations 
to the physical wants of the animal kingdom. The 

8* 



17^ Natural Theology. 

remaining lectures will be devoted mainly to the 
provisions in nature for the intellectual and moral 
constitution of man, and to the Bible as a part of 
those provisions. 

But before we consider these higher adaptations, 
w^e wish to go further still in our investigation of 
the physical universe, that v/e may see that we can 
reach no depth where evidence of the being and 
character of God is not found. As we commenced 
with man, and have followed organic life through 
the animal and vegetable kingdoms, we come, natu- 
rally, in our course, to the chemical elements which 
make up, not only the earth, but all of those beings 
we have been considering. 

The argument for design certainly would be con- 
clusive, if the science of chemistry were unknown. 
That argument can rest on the collocation of mat- 
ter alone ; on results worked out by means of it. 
A curiously constructed machine might be studied 
in reference to the end for which it was made, with- 
out any knowledge of the materials of which it was 
composed. The hands of a watch, marking the 
hours, minutes, and seconds, upon the dial-plate, 
would be to us proof of design, though we had never 
looked beneath the dial-plate to learn the material 
or even the combination of wheels and springs by 
which the result is secured. In fact, all the different 
kinds of clocks and watches equally show design 
although no one can tell how much skill has been 
manifested in their construction till he sees the 
work, or witnesses the results. 



Chemistry. 179 

So the structure of the eye might be understood 
by an anatomist, and its evidence of design and the 
mechanical skill manifested be appreciated by an 
optician, though he knew nothing of the chemical 
elements that composed it, and had never heard of 
atomic weights or chemical formulas. 

But the deeper we go in our study of Nature, the 
more perfect the proof becomes for the existence 
of God, and the more full are the revelations of His 
character. And by the very process of proving 
His being, we learn His character, for we only 
know that He is, in the study of nature, by learn- 
ing what he is. There is now no field of physical 
research in which the knowledge is more exact 
than in chemistry ; and there is no department of 
science that shows more plainly the being and cha- 
racter of God. The proof may not be so tangible 
as in some of the special contrivances found in the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms ; and being of a more 
general character, it may not be so satisfactory to all 
men. But every argument here has the advantage 
of not being weakened by any development theo- 
ries. Matter remains as it was. Chemical affinity 
is the same now that it was when the foundations 
of the earth were laid. There is in it no volition, 
no organic law of development. There is no possi^ 
ble indication of any change in the quantity of matter, 
or in its laws of combination. 

When we consider that the living species of ani- 
mals now known number half a million at least, and 
the species of plants are numbered by hundreds of 



i8o Natural Theology. 

thousands, with such diverse appearance and pro- 
perties, we should infer that the kinds of matter 
composing them were very numerous. But these 
varied substances are merely combinations. The eye, 
with all its curious mechanism ; the brain, the organ 
of the mind ; the feather of the ostrich, the count- 
less shells of the ocean and the land ; the fruits and 
flowers, the healing balsams and deadly poisons — are 
all formed from but few of the elements that, under 
the control of chemical affinity, modified by the vital 
principle, produce these varied compounds. 

Not seventy elements are yet known ; and of these, 
not more than twenty make up the great mass of 
the earth's crust, and four of them constitute the 
greater portion of all organic beings. When we 
learn the small number of simple substances, we 
are at once impressed with the vast number of 
conditions under which they can appear in pro- 
ducing every inorganic and organic object upon the 
globe. 

There is a wonderful fitness in the elements to 
produce results ; and this fitness is secured both by 
their nature, and the quantity in which they were 
created. They give the solid framework of the 
earth, the water and the air, the plants and ani- 
mals. This globe is what it is, not only because 
the elements are what they are, but because of their 
relative quantity. If the hydrogen which forms 
one-ninth of all the water on the globe had been 
much increased, there would have been more water ; 
but no free oxygen would have been left, and animal 



Importa7it Elements. 1 8 1 

life as it now exists would have been impossible 
upon the earth. If there had been less hydrogen to 
combine with the oxygen, or less nitrogen to mingle 
with it, the air would have been so rich in this ele- 
ment that combustion would have been uncontrolla- 
ble. Had there been no potash, the majority of 
land plants could have had no existence ; or if it had 
been found in small portions here and there upon 
the earth, what a scanty vegetation would have 
existed.-* And as animals depend upon plants for 
life, without this element as it now exists, land ani- 
mals would be almost, if not entirely unknown. 
Men probably could not exist. The same is true 
of other elements, of which we are accustomed to 
think but little. If no phosphorus were found upon 
the globe, none of the higher plants could grow 
and mature their seeds, none of the higher animals 
could exist. 

The bone and brain of man must have this ele- 
ment. Now it is easy for one who has never studied 
this subject in the light of chemistry, geology, and 
physiology, to think of the earth as a huge conglo- 
meration of matter, supporting plants and animals, 
and to suppose that it might have been very differ- 
ent from what it now is, and still support them ; but 
it is not so. The want of a single one of the abun- 
dant elements, of oxygen or hydrogen, nitrogen, car- 
bon calcium, phosphorus, or potassium, would have 
left the earth a dreary waste. Any essential variation 
in the quantity, or distribution, or chemical power of 
any one of them, would have entirely changed the face 



1 82 Natural Theology. 

of nature. What chemist can gather a spadeful of 
soil in any portion of the earth, and find in it these 
elements, as he will, so essential to plant and ani- 
mal life, without being filled with wonder at the 
accuracy of that great chemical experiment when 
the world was made ? And when he has learned 
from geology by what means these substances have 
been spread over the earth, and so prepared that 
they may be ever present in the soil, his wonder 
is not diminished, and he needs what has been 
called the " capacious credulity of an infidel," to be- 
lieve that anything but Infinite Wisdom and Power 
could produce the result which he sees. The poetic 
language of Holy Writ has for him a literal meaning : 
" Who hath vteasiired the waters in the hollow of his 
hand, and meted out heaven with a span, and com- 
prehended tJie dust of the earth in a measure, and 
zveighed the mountains in scales, and the high hills 
in a balance ? " 

He finds an answer in the elements. These ele- 
ments, so wonderfully constituted, so nicely balanced 
in quantity and so carefully distributed by the geo- 
logic forces that have continued to act since the 
foundations of the earth were laid, give not only the 
conditions of sensitive life, but all that sensitive life 
can desire. Man, the lord and master of the animal 
kingdom, finds in the combination and power of the 
elements the support of his life, the means of enjoy- 
ment in the exercise of all his senses, the means of 
improvement in the use of all his powers. 

We learn also, that these combinations in the pro- 



Mattel'- Unchanged. 183 

duction of distinct objects is no matter of chance ; 
that the objects around us are not mere accidents, 
here of one composition, and there of another. 
Limestone is the same the world over, containing 
so much metal, so much oxygen, and so much car- 
bon. Give the chemist the weight of the stone, and 
if it be pure, he will tell you how much of each ele- 
ment is present, as well before he analyzes it as 
afterwards. Matter remains unchanged in its kind, 
and its laws remain the same ; so that every gem, 
when it is crushed, or melted, or dissolved, has only 
changed its form. Neither the elements that com- 
posed it, nor the forces that arranged the particles, 
have changed. All that is wanted are the proper 
conditions, and the gem will reappear. Decay and 
fire may destroy the form of the animal, tree, and 
tender plant ; but from every one goes forth the ma- 
terial and the energy, that, under the control of the 
vital principle, shall produce the same kind of organ- 
ic structure, or its equal, in quantity of matter and 
chemical force. 

So in the ceaseless changes on our planet, in the 
grand succession of life and death, that, like suc- 
cessive waves, sweeps over it ; nothing is lost, no- 
thing ever has been lost, and nothing gained. 

Nothing of chance has been found, or. can be 
found. The elements are the alphabet of the mate- 
rial world, and chemical affinity and vitality the 
great, unwearied com.positors, that set in type the 
thoughts of God, which He would reveal in the ma- 
terial universe. And we have in the constitution 



184 Natural Theology. 

and laws of matter, as convincing proof of design 
as in the type of the printing-case, that, in the hands 
of the skilful compositor, goes through the number- 
less changes known in the art of printing. 

We shall have occasion, in another place, to speak 
of the law of chemical combination in relation to 
mind. In the present lecture, we shall confine our- 
selves to the consideration of some of the results 
of that law, and to some of the elements and chemi- 
cal compounds that play an important part in the 
economy of nature, especially in relation to man. 

And the first elements that force themselves upon 
our attention, are the four which are the pillars of 
organic life. While many other elements are called 
into play in building up and supporting organic 
beings, they are so small in quantity compared with 
oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, that these are 
properly regarded as the pillars of plant and animal 
life. They not only supply material for building up 
the living structures, but they also furnish the con- 
ditions of their existence. The water and the air 
are their products, and without either of these on 
the globe, organized beings could not exist. We 
are struck with wonder and admiration at the fitness 
of these four simple elements for the part they play 
in this globe, in transforming it from a barren rock 
into an abode of beauty, and a place of animal and 
intellectual enjoyment. If there is design in the 
collocation of matter, in the adaptation of parts in 
created beings, the manifestation of wisdom and 
benevolence in adorning and peopling the earth, we 



Design in Matter. 185 

can hardly fail to inquire if there is not also evi- 
dence of the same personal attributes, somewhere 
apparent, in the materials with which all these mar- 
vellous structures have been formed. And when 
the inquiry has been fairly made, the answer has 
been fully and explicitly in the affirmative. 

There is nothing absurd in supposing matter to' 
have existed, in some form, from all eternity. But 
when we have studied the elements in all their rela- 
tions and adaptations, it is impossible for us to 
believe that matter came to be what it is without 
an ordaining intelligence. Such relations of quality 
and quantity have appeared as to show, most con- 
clusively, that the elements were adapted to the 
reign of life upon the globe. And the combination 
of so many substances, with such a range of affini- 
ties, could not be supposed to exist, working harmo- 
niously to the same end, the sustaining of life, unless 
they were created for that purpose. To believe that 
they happened to be what they are, would demand 
the utmost credulity. 

We can but glance at some of the properties and 
compounds of the four elements already referred to. 
So essential are they to life, that it was not only 
necessary that they should be well distributed, like 
other substances, in the beginning, but since such 
vast quantities of them may be consumed in a sin- 
gle place, they must also have the power of easily 
restoring the equilibrium, or of returning to any 
portion of the earth from which they may be taken. 
This requirement is remarkably met by their con- 



1 86 Natural Theology. 

stitution, either in the simple, or the compound 
state. 

Three of them are gases so permanent, that no 
mechanical power that man can bring to bear upon 
them can reduce them to the solid or liquid form. 
Oxygen and nitrogen are free, uncombined gases, 
floating over every inch of the* globe, as atmosphere, 
bathing every object, and under the pressure of their 
own weight permeating every porous substance. 
Hydrogen is not found uncombined ; but in its com- 
pounds, especially in the vapor of water, it is almost, 
if not quite, as constantly present as the atmo- 
sphere itself Carbon, the fourth element, differs 
entirely from the other three. So far from being a 
gas, it is one of the most fixed of all bodies ; no 
heat yet brought to bear upon it having caused it to 
take the form of vapor. But when united with 
oxygen it floats away in the air, and as carbonic 
acid, forms itself an atmosphere for the earth. 

These four elements are, then, ever present in 
every portion of the earth. No matter how many 
tons of them are taken up by the green herbage of 
the field in a single day, at its close there may be 
just as much of each one of them hovering over it 
and resting upon it as though not a single grain 
had been gathered in over its broad acres. These 
elements mingle together in the whirlwind and the 
storm. They float together in the gentlest breeze. 
Every breath of air that fans the cheek, or moves 
the aspen leaf, bears these four elements as insepa- 
ble companions. They combine and recombine under 



Oxygen. 187 

the chemical power of light and heat and the electric 
flash, and thus they are ready in every place, at every 
moment, to renew the face of the earth. 

The affinity they have for each other is so nicely 
balanced that under the action of living beings they 
are decomposed and recombined to form organic 
compounds ; and when these compounds have per- 
formed their allotted work, they are decomposed 
into other compounds of gaseous form, to float 
away, until again imprisoned by the roots or spread- 
ing leaves of the forest, or the tender herbage of 
the meadow ; and then again they return in cease- 
less circuit to the inorganic, air-like state. 

Each of these elements is worthy of careful study, 
for its relation to the other three, and for the part it 
plays in the economy of nature. 

Oxygen is the most abundant element on the 
globe, and has the widest range of affinity. Nearly, 
if not quite, one-half of all the solid crust of the 
earth is composed of this gas, in combination with 
metallic and metalloid substances. And here we 
are struck with the numberless series of compounds 
which oxygen gives, without which the earth would 
be entirely unfitted, in its mineral constitution, for 
the support of vegetable, and consequently of ani- 
mal life. The deepest rocks which the convulsions 
of the earth have thrown up from its very frame- 
work, are made up chiefly of the oxides of metals 
and silicon. And every sandstone, slatestone, and 
limestone that makes up the sedimentary rocks, is 
simply a combination of this gas with other elements. 



1 88 Natural Theology. 

The quartz pebble, and almost all the gems, bor- 
row their hardness and varied tints from combina- 
tions of this same element. The sand that smooths 
the rugged rocks, and a large proportion of all the 
salts upon which plant life is dependant, are oxides. 
Remove the oxygen from our globe, and it would be 
left a metallic ball, mingled only here and there with 
metalloids in combination. Then eight-ninths of 
all the waters that fill the oceans, roll down in mighty 
rivers, and permeate the earth, is oxygen. Thus far 
it appears in combination. 

It has seized upon the metals and turned them to 
stone ; on hydrogen, and formed the waters. In no 
one of these substances would its presence ever be 
suspected, were it not for that searching analysis 
by which the chemist unlocks every element from 
the chains with which its own affinity has bound it. 

But in the air we have it uncombined. It is dilut- 
ed with four times its quantity of nitrogen ; but 
there is no chemical union between them, and the 
oxygen is unchanged. 

No chemist can study the rocks without feeling 
that there was a time when their particles were 
brought together to form the compounds which they 
now present. The oxygen that forms the granite 
was undoubtedly once free and uncombined, and the 
oceans of water once floated in space as separate 
gases. But when the great experiment was made 
of bringing these elements together ; when the com- 
pounds of the rocks and the waters of the oceans 
had been formed ; when oxygen had spent its fury 



A tmosphere. 1 89 

on all the elements which it has since held in its 
unyielding grasp, the oxygen of the air was undoubt- 
edly left as a residual substance. For, notwithstand- 
ing the strong affinity of oxygen for other elements, 
the amount of each element which it can hold in 
combination is unalterably determined. When 
every metal and metalloid that forms the crust of the 
earth had received its portion, the oxygen of the 
atmosphere was so much of one material in excess 
in the world-making experiment. 

Nor do we regard this as in any sense a mere 
lucky accident. Certain it is that the whole range 
of life upon the globe, depends upon the fact. We 
regard this excess as one of the predetermined con- 
ditions of the experiment which was tried to pre- 
pare an abode for sensitive life, and which was, 
therefore, tried in such a manner as to secure the 
end in view ; for the free oxygen of the atmosphere 
is as essential to life as the rocks, and soils, and 
water that form the earth's crust. The result is the 
same as every chemist sometimes aims at in his 
work in the laboratory. He pours in one element or 
compound in excess. The great Architect of the 
universe who ordained the chemical power of oxy- 
gen, ordained also the quantity of materials upon 
which it should act to form the rocks and oceans ; 
and when the eternal balance was poised, to deter- 
mine the proportions, provision was made for the 
atmosphere. Oxygen was not only the great pre- 
parer of the globe for living beings, but it plays such 
an essential part in sustaining life, that the early 



1 90 Natural Theology. 

chemists named it vital air. No animal can live with- 
out it. It not only enters into the tissues, forming 
in the higher animals bone, and muscle, and nerve, 
but it is also the great purifier of the animal system, 
combining with the worn-out particles, giving them 
the form best fitted for elimination from the body. 
And by this very process, it gives that power to the 
system which volition calls into play in every move- 
ment of the body, and exercise of mind ; and as it 
burns up the organic compounds, it becomes the 
greatest agent in securing in the body that degree 
of warmth which the functions of life demand. 

It is also the producer of artificial light and heat 
in all ordinary combustion. Practically, artificial 
light and heat would be impossible without just 
such an element as oxygen is. We have indeed 
light and heat from the combination of other ele- 
ments, but their products are generally solids or 
noxious compounds. It may be said that hydrogen 
and carbon, the other elements concerned in ordi- 
nary combustion, show as much design as oxygen ; 
and so undoubtedly they do. They were created in 
reference to each other ; and the office of each, and 
the perfect adaptation of each one for that office, we 
shall endeavor to show in another place. But all 
will agree that oxygen is the great heat and light 
producer. In vain were our coal-beds formed, or the 
veins of the earth filled with oil, were it not for the 
free oxygen of the air. For without this, they could 
give no more light and heat than the granite of the 
mountains, or the waters that gush from their sides. 



Strength of Affinity, 191 

Professor Cooke, in his extended work on Religion 
and Chemistry, has forcibly presented the evidence 
of design in the two states of oxygen. In its ordi- 
nary condition it seems harmless, uncorrosive, bath- 
ing the most delicate organs without injury ; but 
when roused to activity by a certain temperature, it 
devours with the fury of a demon, and never rests till 
nothing more is left to be destroyed. Under certain 
conditions, this element becomes so changed that it 
has had applied to it a new name, ozone, from the 
supposition that it was an entirely distinct substance. 
Some particles of this active, corrosive form of oxy- 
gen are ever floating in the air, so much diluted as 
in general to prove harmless to living organisms, 
but ever ready to unite with decomposing particles 
of organic matter, and thus more perfectly fulfil its 
mission as the great purifier. When this subject 
shall be more fully studied, we have every reason 
to believe, from late experiments, that new proofs 
will be brought out of the evidence of design in 
adapting this peculiar condition of oxygen to the 
welfare of the animal kingdom, and especially of 
man. 

There is another characteristic of this element 
that seems to have special relations to the wants of 
man. Its affinity varies in its intensity for different 
substances according to the temperature. With 
iron, it unites so readily, that particles of pure iron, 
properly prepared in fine powder, glow with heat, 
and are changed to oxides, simply by dropping 
through the air ; while charcoal, at the common tem- 



192 Natural Theology. 

peratiire of the globe, remains unchanged for thou- 
sands of years. But in the heat of the furnace its 
relative affinity is completely reversed, so that the 
oxygen rushes from the iron ore to the heated car- 
bon, leaving the iron in the metallic state for the 
use of man. It is proper here to state, that this is 
only one example of the change in the relative 
strength of affinities by change of conditions ; taking 
advantage of which, the chemist is able to unlock 
every compound, and produce results entirely impos- 
sible were the affinities of all substances increased 
or diminished alike, by any change of condition. 
The materials of gunpowder are ground and pressed 
together, and yet the chemical affinities of the com- 
pounds remain, at ordinary temperatures, unchanged. 
The oxygen still clings to the potassium, holding 
even the nitrogen with a firm grasp. But a single 
spark of fire reverses these affinities in an instant, 
so that there is an interchange of elements ; new 
compounds are formed ; the solids change to gases 
with terrible explosive power. 

When we see an element transforming the globe 
from a ball of metal to the rocky crust of our earth, 
forming its gems and soils, its oceans that beget 
the springs, the rains, and dews ; when we see it 
entering into the structure of every living thing, 
and essential to animal life for every moment ; when 
we see it prepared in such quantity that when it 
had formed all needed compounds, just enough was 
left to carry on the processes of life ; when we see 
its relation to light and heat, its passive and its 



Hydrogen. 193 

active state, and its change of affinity under the 
temperature which its own combination produces, 
so as to set free the metals and other substances 
most useful to man — can we fail to recognise in it 
the work of an Infinite Intelligence ? 

The second element of the group, hydrogen, is 
never found as a natural product in an uncombined 
state. It would be impossible for any considerable 
quantity of it to exist mingled with the free oxygen 
of the atmosphere, without chemically combining 
under the influence of electricity, and other agencies 
brought to bear upon it. In all the processes of 
nature, in which hydrogen is liberated by decompo- 
sition, it is liberated as a compound, or it unites 
with some other element the instant it is set free. 
Its most abundant compound, water, is formed by its 
union with oxygen, so that what we shall hereafter 
say of water will have as much reference to one of 
these elements as to the other. But hydrogen has 
of itself properties of paramount importance to 
man. It is in almost every instance the basis of 
flame. Any incandescent gas is flame ; but strike 
hydrogen from our list of elements, and artificial 
light from flame would be almost impossible. It is 
hydrogen that fills our gasometers, and, flowing 
through the iron arteries beneath the streets 
throughout the city, shoots forth its jets of flame 
wherever the wants of man demand it, almost turn- 
ing night into day. It is hydrogen, that, stored up 
in the petroleum for countless ages, now flows 
through the thousand openings in the rocks, and 

9 



194 Natural Theology. 

gives to the whole world abundant means of light. 
It is hydrogen in the oil of the whale that gives it 
such value, that the leviathan of the deep is hunted 
among the icebergs of the north. The blazing wood 
upon the hearth-stones sends forth in its flickering 
flame the cheerful light of hydrogen. The palace 
and the hovel are alike its debtors. 

It is so abundant, and so combined with other 
substances, that no science was needed to prepare 
it for common use. In wood and oil it has ever been 
at the command of the most illiterate savage. These 
substances gave him light as well as heat, he knew 
not how. 

It remained for modern science, after wood and 
oil had supplied the wants of man for thousands of 
years, to show the nice balance of the hydrogen 
aflinities with other elements, so that it should be 
ever ready for use in its most available form. 

It was only when the demands of civilization call- 
ed for a more extensive use of flame, that science 
was needed to set hydrogen free in large quantities. 
It cannot improve its quality over that which the 
wax and oil gave the ancients, before the science of 
chemistry was known. It is only by a combination 
of many properties that hydrogen thus supplies the 
want of man in the production of artificial light. 
First, we have the strong affinity of this element for 
oxygen, by which flame is secured. Second, its af- 
finity for other substances with which it is found in 
combination, so nicely balanced that the heat pro- 
duced by burning one portion shall be sufficient to 



Flame. 195 

set free another portion, and so on until the stock 
of hydrogen is exhausted. A common lamp or can- 
dle is a gas-manufacturing apparatus where the burn- 
ing of one portion of the gas, while it gives light 
and heat, as though that were its only office, is set- 
ting free another portion to renew the flame. The 
flame is constantly consumed, and yet never grow- 
ing less. A third property of hydrogen that fits it 
for illuminating purposes is, that its product with 
oxygen is water, which, intensely heated at the in- 
stant of its formation, passes ofl" in an invisible form, 
neither obscuring the light nor doing injury to the 
air. But hydrogen alone is not sufficient to produce 
light. It gives flame and heat, but there is a want 
of brilliancy. Even the compound blow-pipe flame, 
giving the most intense heat produced by combus- 
tion, would be almost useless of itself for illumina- 
tion. And here we have another remarkable pro- 
perty of hydrogen, that fits it for giving light. 
Whenever it is produced by heat, from organic sub- 
stances, it brings off in combination with it a por- 
tion of carbon. This carbon is set free as minute 
particles of charcoal in the hydrogen flame, and for 
a moment these thousand points of white hot car- 
bon glow with intense heat, and give us the light of 
the common flame. The next moment they are 
burned to invisible gas, while another series takes 
their place. How nicely all these affinities must be 
balanced. Suppose the affinities were changed so 
that the carbon should burn first, we should have 
heat, but no sufficient light. Or if the affinity of 



196 Natural Theology. 

hydrogen were too strong to be set free from com- 
bination by the heat of its own combustion, then 
flame, as now ordinarily obtained, would be impos- 
sible. But the hydrogen having the power to bring 
off carbon in the form of gas, and then to drop the 
particles in the heated flame an instant before they 
are consumed, we have the light-giving machinery 
perfect. So far in the production of flame, we are 
sure of the chemical changes. And if we consider 
the nature of hydrogen when set free ; the substances 
with which it is found in combination ; the process 
by which it secures constant flame ; its affinity for 
oxygen ; its power of bringing away with it the par- 
ticles of carbon needed to give light ; its process of 
burning, by which the particles of carbon are caused 
to give light till others are ready to take their places, 
and its harmless product — water ; — when we consider 
all these, we not only recognise a substance admi- 
rably fitted for an important place among the need- 
ful things bestowed upon man, but its fitness is se- 
cured by so many distinct conditions, that intelli- 
gence and wisdom are necessarily inferred from such 
a provision. Hydrogen being one of the constitu- 
ents of all organic beings, we naturally seek to learn 
its fitness for this purpose. There are many things 
connected with physiology that we do not yet under- 
stand. But we know it is a law of all animal bodies 
that their particles shall change. The human body 
is like the constantly consuming flame. Its parti- 
cles are dissolving and vanishing, while others, pre- 
pared from the constant supply of food, take their 



Nitrogen. 197 

place. We may not fully understand why this con- 
stant change should be necessary. But we know 
that it is necessary under our present constitution, 
and that by it heat and muscular power are both 
produced. And since this rapid change of particles 
is necessary for the body, we see how beautifully 
adapted hydrogen is for the important place it occu- 
pies in the animal system. Its oxidation evolves 
more heat than the same weight of any other sub- 
stance ; and its product, water, is not only readily 
eliminated from the system, but it aids in bearing 
away the other substances that in the form of salts 
must be eliminated by solution. 

Hydrogen has also important relations to nitro- 
gen, so that in the decomposition of nitrogen com- 
pounds, and probably also as water in the air, it 
forms ammonia, and thus brings nitrogen into the 
most favorable condition for the nourishment of 
vegetation. 

The third element to be considered is nitrogen. 
Design may be learned from results as well as from 
the means by which the results are produced. As 
already intimated, a clock would indicate design by the 
movement of its hands marking the hours, though 
its wheels were never seen. It is by its results, 
rather than by knowledge of the methods of its 
changes, that we must recognise design in nitrogen. 
We are not, by any means, so sure of its methods 
and conditions of combinations as in the case of 
the two elements already considered. It constitutes 
four-fifths of the atmosphere, but as a portion of the 



198 Natural Theology. 

atmosphere, it seems to have no direct relation to 
animal life. It has mechanical relations to them, 
and the wing of the bird and of every flying thing 
has been fashioned with reference to it. For if the 
nitrogen were gone, the weight of the atmosphere 
would be so changed that very few, if any, of the 
winged animals could sustain themselves in it. But 
chemically considered, nitrogen is an inert body 
mingled with oxygen, the life-sustaining element, to 
moderate its force by dilution. But, why it may be 
asked, could not the oxygen alone suffice, since that 
alone takes an active part in sustaining life .<* Cer- 
tain it is, that organic substances, as they are now 
constituted, could not exist in pure oxygen. It 
would prove too stimulating for animal life, and 
combustion would be terrific beyond description. 

We may therefore properly say, that the chemical 
relations of organic beings have been adjusted with 
reference to the amount of nitrogen in the air, 
although it exerts no direct chemical action upon 
them ; for both of the disastrous consequences just 
mentioned as resulting from an atmosphere of 
pure oxygen, would follow simply from the quantity 
of oxygen breathed, or that would come in contact 
with the flame in a given time. 

When the oxygen is diluted with four times 
its quantity of this inert gas, its strong chemical 
power still remains, but only one-fifth as much can 
be brought into action in a given time on a given 
space, as there would be were the atmosphere pure 
oxygen. 



Nitroge?t Compoimds. 199 

We have here all the advantage of the strong 
affinity of oxygen in producing light and heat, and 
in supporting life, while its action is beautifully 
regulated by the nitrogen with which it is diluted. 
We see, then, its fitness for a constituent of the 
atmosphere, by its very negative properties. It has 
no taste, nor color, nor odor ; and its affinity is so 
sluggish, that though mingled with oxygen in an 
aerial ocean more than fifty miles deep, rolling on 
the who'e earth, only the minutest portions of it 
ever combine with that oxygen. We cannot con- 
ceive of any change that could be made to compen- 
sate for t\ie loss of nitrogen in the atmosphere, 
unless oxygen were increased in quantity, and 
weakened in Its chemical affinity. And there is no 
end to the confusion that change would introduce 
into the relation of the chemical elements most use- 
ful to man. To meet his wants, oxygen must have 
the power it now has to combine, and it must be 
mingled with just srch a body as nitrogen to control 
its combination. 

Nitrogen is confined mainly to the air, to organic 
beings, and to those compounds that, small in quan- 
.tity, but widely distributed, seem like a special pro- 
vision for the food of plants and for the use of man. 
Most of its compounds are soluble or easily decom- 
posed. They cannot therefore make up any portion 
of the permanent crust of the earth. In fact, it is 
chiefly in those countries where rain seldom falls, 
or in places entirely protected from rain and run- 
ning water, that they can accumulate. It is on the 



200 Natural Theology. 

rainless islands of South America that we find 
guano, a compound rich in nitrogen ; and in similar 
places, in caves, and beneath old buildings, we lind 
an accumulation of nitrates. 

We have no direct evidence, then, of the presence 
of nitrogen on our globe in its earliest history. It 
is only when we find the remains of organic beings, 
that we have data for inferring its existence. It 
may have been brought into its place among the 
elements that compose our globe, after oxygen had 
struggled with the other elements, and changed 
them by its Titanic grasp into the materials that have 
hardened into stone. Certain it is, ho^v^ever, that 
nitrogen is essential to all the higher organisms. 

It is the nitrogen compounds of plants that chiefly 
form the food that builds up the animal body and 
supplies its waste. For this purpose it is well fitted 
by its weak chemical affinity, and the nature of its 
compounds. It is easily broken up in every combi- 
nation, and the resulting compounds being soluble 
are most readily eliminated from the system. Its 
compounds naturally formed by decomposition are 
volatile, and thus being disseminated by the law of 
diffusion in the air, are ever present, to be washed 
down by the falling waters for the nourishment of 
plants. And small quantities of its compounds are 
undoubtedly formed by the action of electricity and 
other agencies in the atmosphere itself, so that this 
inert element is slowly but surely brought under the 
power of plant life, and through plants it takes its 
appointed place in the highest organic forms. 



Explosive Compounds. 20 1 

Its weak affinity gives rise to explosive compounds 
of the utmost importance to man. Gunpowder is 
not alone for war. It is a great engine of power for 
the progress of civilization. It not only secures civi- 
lized society against the inroads of barbarian hordes, 
by giving greater war power to civilized man, but by 
its agency he makes his way through the mountains, 
and overturns the hills by the roots. The works 
accomplished in our day through the agency of gun- 
powder are truly marvellous. Gun-cotton, which may 
be used as a substitute for powder, and the percus- 
sion-cap that ignites them, are both nitrogen com- 
pounds. So weak is the affinity of this element 
when held in the solid state in combination, that by 
percussion, or the direct application of heat, its com- 
pounds are instantly broken up ; and this gas, which 
no mechanical force can compress to a solid, leaps 
particle from particle, and crushes the solid rocks, 
or hurls the deadly shot and shell. 

We find this element, then, perfectly fitted for its 
place in the atmosphere and in organic beings. We 
see its compounds so essential to living beings, tend- 
ing to equilibrium, from their distribution in the 
air or by their formation in it. We find some of its 
compounds, like nitric acid and the peroxide of ni- 
trogen, most useful to man in science and art, so 
corrosive and poisonous, that were they to be formed 
in abundance, they would destroy all organic life 
upon the globe. They are simply combinations of 
that nitrogen and oxygen which float together in the 
air, and are kept from forming these compounds 



202 Natural Theology. 

abundantly by their nicely-balanced affinities. But 
wherever a strong base is found like potash or lime, 
there nature allows nitric acid to be formed in large 
quantities ; because, uniting with these bases, it not 
only becomes harmless to organic life, but remains 
a reservoir of nourishment to plants, and an import- 
ant product for man. We say the base causes the 
nitric acid to be formed by its presence, and the 
older chemists called that kind of action catalysis ; 
but if no man can satisfactorily explain it, he must 
admire this curious relation of chemical substances, 
and admire the beautiful and beneficial results se- 
cured by it. It is one of the safety-valves, one of 
the regulators abounding in the machinery of na- 
ture, by which action is modified and changed, so 
that the machinery of nature never gets out of order ; 
by which the inorganic world, even, seems to be- 
come organic in its vast system of chemical and 
physical changes, so as to prepare the materials and 
present the conditions needed for all organic beings, 
as the human system prepares the various secretions 
and throws them from the body, or pours them out 
where they are needed for further use. 

We find this element also giving rise to a series of 
substances most explosive in their nature, by which 
man becomes terrific in war and powerful in conquer- 
ing the earth. There is much remaining for us to 
learn respecting it ; but of all that we do know, not a 
single characteristic can be pointed out that does not 
seem a special provision for some important purpose. 

Every organized being and every organic product 



Cai'bon. 203 

contains carbon as an essential constituent. This 
element is among the most familiar and most useful 
in its relation to art and science. It would chal- 
lenge our admiration for the benefits it bestows up- 
on man, if not a particle of it entered into the com- 
position of our own bodies. But some of its highest 
uses arise from the fact that it takes its place among 
the ever-changing particles of the animal system, 
and is thus constantly oscillating between the two 
great kingdoms of nature, now appearing in organic 
products, and then again by combustion or decay 
rushing back under the power of chemical affinity 
into the inorganic form. Like oxygen, already de- 
scribed, it exists, even in its uncombined state, under 
forms so different in all their physical properties, 
that nothing but chemistry could convince us that 
these different-appearing substances are one and 
the same element. 

As the diamond, carbon is the hardest and most 
beautiful crystal known. As coal, in its various 
forms, it is one of the chief combustible substances. 
As plumbago, or black-lead, it is soft to the touch, 
so that its dust is used to prevent friction ; and in 
strong contrast to coal, it is able to withstand the 
intense heat of a blast-furnace without combustion. 
Certainly the diamond, flashing with light, as though 
miniature suns, stars, and rainbows were gleaming 
through its facettes ; the coal upon the glowing 
grate ; and plumbago, one of the softest solids, defy- 
ing heat and oxygen — are three wonderful forms 
of existence of the same substance. 



204 Natural Theology. 

They are no more wonderful, indeed, than the 
different conditions of oxygen ; but as carbon is a 
soUd, its different conditions are recognised by the 
sense of touch and sight, as well as by their chemi- 
cal relations. 

Carbon, like hydrogen, is a constant element in 
ordinary combustion. They beautifully supplement 
each other. Hydrogen is a permanent gas ; carbon, 
on the other hand, in a pure state, is always a solid. 
It is this physical property of carbon that secures 
to us the vast accumulations of combustible mate- 
rials in the earth, so essential to mankind in devel- 
oping the arts of civilized life. The inexhaustible 
beds of coal are a wonder to the world. They have 
remained for thousands of years comparatively 
unused and unknown. But now they become the 
very basis of material prosperity. If other com- 
bustibles would in part take the place of coal, how 
imperfectly they would do it, and how soon they 
would be exhausted ! Our forests would vanish 
like frost-work before the sun. 

But the mines of coal would never have been 
formed, if carbon had been other than a solid. The 
vegetation from which these beds were formed, 
having lost the other elements, was left as pure 
anthracite ; or in connection with hydrogen and oxy- 
gen, gave rise to the different grades of bituminous 
coals. When we consider the dependance of man 
in his highest state, upon these different varieties 
of coal, for producing light and heat, and working 
pf metals, and for the generatioij of steam, we see 



Properties of Carbon. 205 

wonderful adaptations in the nature of this element 
itself, and in its chemical relations to the other ele- 
ments, to meet his wants ; since, when buried under 
different conditions, it gives rise not only to coal, 
but to so many kinds of coal, each one fitted for a 
special use. 

Another remarkable characteristic of carbon is 
its indestructibility, when in the form of coal, by all 
ordinary agencies. Neither water, nor the oxygen 
of the air, has power to oxidize it at ordinary 
temperatures. It defies such agencies for thousands 
of years. But when raised to a red heat, it not 
only unites rapidly with oxygen, but under proper 
conditions easily secured, the process is self-sup- 
porting. Its heat is of sufficient intensity to melt 
all metals on the globe that occur as oxides, and by 
its heat and affinity for oxygen, to reduce them 
from oxides to the metallic state. 

We hardly need to show how unfitted it would be 
for its most important uses were it either a liquid or 
gas, or were it possible with furnace-heat to melt it. 
In smelting, it can be mingled with the ore in large 
or small pieces. • Intense heat only increases its 
affinity for the oxygen of the air and of the ore. It 
remains solid, and firmly keeps its place, even while 
the melted iron flows through it. The portion that 
consumes instantly takes the form of gas, and is 
swept out by the heated nitrogen, thus keeping the 
products of the furnace pure and the surface of the 
coal constantly free for increased oxidization. If 
man was made to use fire, he must have two just 



2o6 Natural Theology. 

such substances as hydrogen and carbon, both to- 
gether giving Hght and heat, and the products of 
both taking the invisible form. 

While carbon in the form of charcoal, or mineral 
coal, defies the action of oxygen at common tempera- 
tures, it has no such power in its organic combina- 
tions. In animal and vegetable tissue it seems to 
be in a state of unstable equilibrium, so that por- 
tions of plants and animals readily return to the form 
of carbonic acid. Who can help admiring this beau- 
tiful adjustment of affinities, by which carbon can 
become fixed and remain for ever unchanged until 
used by man, and also be so joined to other elements 
in animal and vegetable tissues, that when they are 
exposed upon the surface of the earth after death, 
they rapidly decompose, giving up their carbon as 
carbonic acid, needed to renew the face of the earth .-* 

The properties of carbonic acid itself are emi- 
nently worthy of attention. It is heavier than air, 
but according to the law of diffusion of gases, it is 
rapidly mingled throughout the atmosphere. It is 
thus ever present, where vegetation is found, to sup- 
ply it with the needed carbon. It is highly soluble 
in water, so that both rain and dew bring it down to 
be absorbed by the leaves and roots of plants. It 
gives to the waters percolating the earth greater 
solvent power for certain substances, so that they 
set free more readily the mineral salts needed for 
vegetation. When this gas has reached the tissue 
of the leaves, the strong affinity of its elements is 
overcome by the magic power of light, the plant is 



Carbon in Organic Beings. 20/ 

built up by retaining the carbon, and the oxygen is 
restored to the air. It combines with various sub- 
stances to form salts so directly useful to man, that 
we can hardly regard them as other than a special 
provision for him. But before the creation of man, 
it played an important part in the animal kingdom. 
Nearly all the shell-fish and coral animals that filled 
the old oceans of geologic ages, like those that are 
now piling up their walls and towers among the 
waves, built their masonry of carbonate of lime. The 
vast beds of limestone and the quarries of marble 
are the products of carbonic acid gas. 

Like the other elements already mentioned, car- 
bon has a perfect fitness for its place in the animal 
tissue. In partial decomposition of the tissues, it 
forms soluble compounds, and finally it becomes a 
gas with such relations to the blood, the tissue of 
the lung and the air, that it is constantly set free 
from the system, while oxygen takes its place to 
produce the changes necessary for the continuance 
of life. We do not pretend to understand fully all 
those changes, notwithstanding our advance in ani- 
mal chemistry ; but we understand the results per- 
fectly. We see carbon making a large part of our 
food. We know that carbon is consumed in the 
body by oxidization. We know that heat is pro- 
duced, and that the compounds of carbon are such, 
that this element is as rapidly and easily eliminated 
from the body when it has done its work in the vital 
processes, as those elements that are permanent 
gases. We find it then a body with great diversity 



2o8 Natural Theology. 

of properties and relations, but each property and 
relation apparently a special provision for the organic 
kingdom, and many of its properties evidently hav- 
ing reference to man himself We have no doubt 
the diamond was made to delight man by its beauty, 
and that the coal was stored up for his use. If its 
affinities were different from what they now are, it 
would not withstand the agencies of nature as it 
now does, or it would defy them. But now it does 
service in untold ways for man. 

How easily it is conveyed over the world when 
changed to gas ! Having done its work as carbon, 
it must now be distributed and brought in contact 
with vegetation to perform its work anew. We 
need not recount all its nicely-balanced affinities, 
by which at a high temperature it combines like a 
giant in strength, and then under the soft sunbeam 
playing upon the leaf, relaxes its grasp and becomes 
an obedient servant under the ordinary power of 
life in an organic being. 

These four elements now considered, were they 
alone known to science, would be enough to 
establish the proof of design in the constitution 
of matter. Every plant that clothes the earth, 
every animal on the land and in the waters, as well 
as the unnumbered tribes buried in the earth, 
declare the wonderful fitness of these four elements 
for producing the myriad forms of organic beings 
that have appeared upon the globe. We have not 
here simply a thousand chances to one in favor of 
design, but they are millions to one. For these 



Conclusion. 209 

four elements combine to form all organic beings, 
forming hundreds of distinct parts in each one, just 
fitted for their places. Their affinities are such 
that they answer perfectly the needs of the organic 
being through the whole course of its life, and when 
broken up and thrown off by the vital processes, they 
are alike prepared to appear in other forms. To 
create such elements implies infinite wisdom, as 
well as infinite power. To believe them to be 
uncreated would be possible only to the ignorant, 
or to those constitutionally unable to weigh proof 

Such a vast field here opens before us in the 
groups of elements, in considering their varied pro- 
perties by which they are fitted for the part which 
each one plays upon the globe, that we need not go 
beyond the domain of chemistry to show the exist- 
ence and wisdom of the Creator, and that His 
handiwork extends even to the dust of the earth. 
We might go much farther in pointing out the 
nature of the elements already considered. They 
show design in their adaptation to plant and animal 
life, as well as to the higher nature of man. The 
same is true of all the abundant elements that are 
well known. But many of them have such plain 
reference to the intellectual nature of man, that we 
shall refer to them only in that relation. And we 
have now come to that part of our course where 
the adaptation of the world to man's higher nature 
must claim our chief attention. 



LECTURE VIII. 

PROVISION FOR THE INTELLECT OF MAN IN THE 
STRUCTURE OF MINERALS AND LAWS OF CHE- 
MICAL COMBINATION. 

Preservation of man requires preservation of other beings. — 
The whole plan to be grasped. — Field of mind. — Ani?nals 
remain the same. — Man'' s physical 7iature conditional for 
his higher. — Provision for our perso?tality to be expected. — 
Personality of the Creator. — Mind seeks for the laws of 
nattire. — Physical good 7iever sought for by the great leaders 
in science. — Search for thought ai7iong ancient inscriptions. 
— Physical and intellectual appetite coi7ipared. — Mind of 
man and the order of nature frojn the sanie Creator. — Na- 
ture the great teacher. — Her models perfect. — Proofs of the 
provision for mind. — Minerals. — Mijid must be taxed. — 
Language of Minerals. — Our work is to translate it. — Per- 
fectly adapted to the huirian 7nind. — Crystalli7te for7ns. — 
Progress of77ii7id i7i u7ifoldi7ig the77i. — Fu7ida77ie7ital forTiis. 
— Effect of cry stalli7ie force in the crust of the earth. — Beau- 
ty of crystals for man. — Taylor'' s descriptio7i of the Russian 
jewels. — Bible la7iguage. — Che77iical relatio7i of the ele77ie7its. 
— Power of the che7nist. — Co7idition of progress. — Beyo7id 
the reach of develop7ne7tt theories. — Ma7i has increased in 
k7iow ledge, bittnotin 7ne7ttal power. — A7iswers which nature 
gives. 

We have thus far attempted to show that this world 
is a creation, the work of an infinitely wise Being. 
We attempt to do this by proving that every object 
has a purpose, and that matter in its ultimate consti- 
tution shows that it also was created, being fitted for 
the structure and support of the varied organic beings 



Relation of Beings, 211 

on the globe. The constitution and the collocation 
of matter considered separately proclaim the same 
great truth ; taken together, they give higher and 
grander views of the Creator's character than either 
could give by itself. 

But we have considered the evidence of design in 
creation mainly in reference to physical organiza- 
tion, the preservation and growth of plants, the pre- 
servation and enjoyment of the animal kingdom. 
We have incidentally touched upon other and 
higher topics, but only incidentally, and never of 
set purpose. 

If we commence with the highest created being 
that inhabits the earth, we find full provision 
made for his physical wants. But that very provi- 
sion requires the creating and preserving of other 
organic beings lower in the scale, which are also 
provided for in the same perfect manner. And thus 
we find the provision for man including and abso- 
lutely demanding a provision for a complete series of 
beings, animal and vegetable, and they the unnum- 
bered modifications and conditions of the inorganic 
kingdom. 

It is not enough, then, for us to see the provision 
for one created being, however adequate that provi- 
sion may be, nor for a single species, more far-reach- 
ing than for the individual. But we are to grasp, if 
possible, that mighty plan, all-comprehending as 
it is, by which all the species of plants and animals 
are suited to the globe, are related to each other as 
dependants or supports, so that the whole kingdom 



212 Natural Theology. 

of life is preserved and all its parts joined and ad- 
justed to each other. There is no doubt proof of 
design in the structure of the eye, the loop, the 
hinge, or the ball and socket joint ; but it is in com- 
prehending the magnitude and perfection of the 
plan by which all these varied contrivances make 
up individuals, and the individuals are adjusted in 
myriads to the globe, that we rise to the comprehen- 
sion of the power and the goodness of the Creator. 
As in some great manufactory, we may see contri- 
vance in every spindle that twists a thread, and in 
every pulley that turns a shaft, though nothing else 
is seen, yet it is only when we pass from room to 
room and see the snowy fibres passing through the 
maze of machinery, each process preparing it for the 
next, that we understand a more comprehensive 
design, that, from the ponderous wheel which rolls 
beneath the ever-falling waters, up through all the 
lines of shafts and belts and points of steel to the 
loom itself, forms one vast machine for the produc- 
tion of the web. 

But in the works of God we have a field hardly 
entered by us yet in this discussion — the field of 
mind. For the lower animals, the world needs only 
to be adjusted to their physical wants, and their 
wants are the same in all ages. The lion, the eagle, 
and the insect, are unchanged for a thousand gene- 
rations. They require to-day the same conditions 
they required ages ago. Under the guidance of 
instinct they provide food and shelter for themselves 
and their young. Beyond this they never rise, and 



Personality of the Creator. 2 1 3 

to meet their physical wants the world is adjusted. 
But the physical nature of man is not the end of 
his creation. As the lower forms of life are condi- 
tional for the higher, so the physical nature of man 
is conditional for other and higher powers connected 
with his intellectual, emotional, and moral nature. 
Of the possession of these powers all men are con- 
scious. And if this earth simply provides food, 
and shelter, and animal enjoyment for man, or if 
these are the paramount provisions, then he is an 
anomaly among the creatures of the earth, a being 
having powers the highest and noblest unprovided 
for. 

But we have already recognised the evidence of 
the personality of the Creator in his providing for the 
physical wants of a person, especially in the crea- 
tion and adaptation of the different parts of the 
human body. If a personal being, wise, and good, 
and powerful, were our Creator, we should expect to 
find as perfect provision for our personality through 
all the works of nature, as for our physical support 
and enjoyment. And this evidence of design we 
consider to be of the highest kind, because it con- 
stantly speaks of the personality of God, inasmuch 
as the provision is for our personality ; and in the 
second place, there is no such necessity for this pro- 
vision as there is for that for our physical wants. 

We may, through the befogging speculations of 
development theories, believe that all animals and 
man himself have reached their present physical 
organization by a principle of adjustment by which 



214 Natural Theology. 

they are brought into harmony with the forces and 
conditions of the natural world. But the wildest 
theorist cannot believe that the mind of man has 
gradually developed under the influence of those 
laws and evidences of mind in creation, which have 
flashed upon the world only within the last century. 
So far from their giving origin to mind, or influenc- 
ing its nature, it is mind that seeks them out from 
the darkness of ages ; seeks for them, too, in the 
very foundation and framework of the globe. It 
hungers for them before they are known, and seeks 
for them as for hidden treasures. The study of 
nature is nothing more nor less than the search for 
mind. It brings wealth, indeed, and the means of 
physical enjoyment ; but the whole history of science 
shows that these were not the primary objects 
sought for by the great leaders in scientific discove- 
ries in all ages. 

They have ever been considered the dreamers and 
impracticable men ; because ever pressing on in the 
dark passages of Nature's temple, reading her ob- 
scure inscriptions, they have had no products to 
show to those who can see good only in silver and 
gold and fruits of the earth. They have sought to 
commune with the Maker of the universe by reading 
the ancient inscriptions on its pillars and beneath 
its foundation-stones, as scholars bend with wearied 
eye and throbbing brain over the old mutilated in- 
scriptions on the slabs and columns unburied in the 
East. These do not expect to find lessons of wisdom 
in the old inscriptions, which they have never read 



Search for Thought. 2 1 5 

in other languages, nor to make discoveries in art 
and science which shall lengthen human life, alle- 
viate its ills, or add to its comforts. 

But in every line upon those old marbles there is 
the record of a thought, and whatever its value or 
worthlessness, they wish to throw its light on the 
great background of human history. It is the 
search for thought that leads men on, and dignifies 
the labor among the mounds of Nineveh ; that re- 
deems it from the charge of childish folly, and 
makes each new discovery a matter of universal 
interest. 

To make such investigations is natural to man. 
Whatever gives evidence of thought, he wishes to 
understand. The field of thought is the home of a 
thinking being, the home of man in his highest and 
noblest state. 

No exhibition of thought, unless connected with 
evil associations, can ever be regarded by him as 
useless. The very law of his intellectual being for- 
bids it. He may not have so far analyzed his in- 
tellectual powers as to know why he is impelled to 
this or that investigation in nature. He may not 
be able to give a satisfactory answer to the one who 
demands the use of his study. But he knows there 
is a use, as he knows food strengthens his body, 
although he may be in happy ignorance of such an 
organ as a stomach, and have no knowledge of the 
peculiar office of carbon and nitrogen compounds. 
He cannot tell how the food acts, but he goes on 
eating, for his appetite demands it. In satisfying 



2i6 Natural Theology. 

its cravings, the good of the body is cared for. It 
was given to guide men before science could guide 
them ; and it led them in the right direction as surely 
before the days of Hunter and Liebig as it does 
now, with all the light of modern science. 

So this intellectual appetite, that has led men to 
dig among ruins, to wipe the dust from the ancient 
inscription, to gather as a pearl every monument 
of human thought, to scan every form of matter as 
it exists in nature ; the crystals and the flowers, the 
animals, from the largest to the animalcules, those 
now living and those sleeping in their beds of stone, 
— this intellectual appetite, not a thing of develop- 
ment, and depending upon conditions, but an ori- 
ginal controlling power, has led men in the right 
direction. It has led them to labor, though unable 
to defend themselves from sneers, and unable to 
frame arguments in favor of what they knew must 
be right. 

It is this fact in nature, its manifestation of 
thought, that has enchained so many brilliant in- 
tellects in its investigations from the days of Aris- 
totle to the present time. This was the charm 
that bound them to their work and cheered them in 
their investigations. The power of this element has 
never been more fully recognised than in the late 
work of the great master in zoology, Agassiz, who 
sums each of his first thirty-three chapters as ex- 
pressions of the thought of the Creator. 

He does not, like the alchemist, claim that he 
has made the gold which he holds up to our ad- 



ThougJit of God. 217 

miring view. He presents the gleaming ore, and 
says : " Here I found it, where it was poured in all 
its purity by God himself." 

We have now laid open broad veins in this rich 
mine, by centuries of patient search ; but it was the 
particles of the same true ore, the thought of God, 
that led on the early searchers, though they found 
it in grains so small and scattered while walking 
upon the edge of the placer that the multitude could 
see nothing. But as the miner neither creates the 
gold which he finds, nor the gold fashions the eye 
that discovers it, so the mind of man neither creates 
the order and harmony which he discovers in nature, 
nor did the order and harmony originate the mind 
which discovers them. They are both the work of 
the same Almighty Creator who formed man in His 
own image, so that he should ever delight to revel 
among the works which the Infinite Intellect pro- 
nounced very good in the beginning. 

The great minds of the world have walked with 
Nature as the scholar walks with the great master, 
listening as he unfolds his thoughts and defe- 
rentially propounding questions in every case of 
doubt. It was because in nature there was thought 
embodied ; a constant unfolding of a plan drawn 
by Infinite Wisdom, and written out on every star 
and mountain, in all the tribes of land and water, 
in the expanding flower and glittering grain of sand 
— that they never tired of her communings, never 
grew wiser than their teacher, but felt themselves 
to be children to the last. We have but like them 

10 



2i8 Natural Theology. 

to enter the portals of this great temple and read 
the thought of its Builder in every separate stone 
and in its joining to others. Nothing is super- 
fluous ; and, so far as explored, nothing seems want- 
ing. Every line, seemingly useless in the separate 
stones, serves to show their true place in the arch 
or dome. And not a single tint could be lost with- 
out marring the grand picture which the pieces all 
conspire to form. They are like the colored glass 
of some grand old cathedral window, forming a pic- 
ture unseen by those who pass on the outer side of 
the temple, but to those within giving gorgeous 
tints and celestial groups. 

We spend days and nights in our libraries com- 
muning with the great of the past ages, and we do 
well. It gives strength and beauty to the mind to 
drink in the thoughts of those who towered up as 
beacon-lights to the world. We make long jour- 
neys to see the works of the great masters ; but in 
this temple of nature which opens its portals to us 
in every land, we are surrounded by works which the 
great artists have only rudely copied, and in these 
works we commune with Him who by wisdom hath 
founded the earth. 

We argue that special provision was made in the 
world for the intellectual nature, because the mind 
here finds sources of delight ; it is constantly urged 
to renewed investigations, it increases in strength 
by the work, and all the objects in nature are so 
related and conditioned as to satisfy the mind when 
the true relations are discovered. 



Mineralogy. 2 1 9 

We step first into the lowest vestibule of this 
temple, the mineral kingdom. 

While design is manifested in single objects, it 
is mainly in the relation of objects to each other 
that design seems to have special reference to the 
mind of man. Wherever contrivance appears that 
has no possible reference to the welfare of the ob- 
ject itself, as beauty of sculpture, or where objects 
are hidden from the world, like the pearl or diamond, 
until brought to light by man, who is capable of ap- 
preciating and taking delight in their beauty ; or 
where we find objects bound together by mathemati- 
cal or physical relations, so that they are brought 
within the ready grasp of mind, and this principle 
running through the whole sweep of the three 
kingdoms, we see a more direct and far-reaching 
provision for the mental than for the physical con- 
stitution of man. 

Chemistry has revealed to us more than sixty 
kinds of matter. All these elements occurring in 
a simple state, and their compounds existing as 
natural products, belong to the lowest department 
of Natural History, mineralogy. It is the same kind 
of matter as is found in the higher departments, 
but it is combined and controlled by inferior forces, 
chemical affinity being the highest force ever mani- 
fested in a mineral. We have in the mineral king- 
dom hundreds of substances making up the earth's 
crust, mingled in seeming confusion, and many of 
them of protean form. These are to be sought 
out and their true nature discovered under their 



220 Natural TJicology. 

various disguises. At first view this seems beyond 
human power. A vast globe is to be investigated. 
Were there no order nor law in the structure of 
minerals the task would be hopeless. For where 
there is no relationship, the study of one object can 
give no aid in understanding another. Any ar- 
rangement not founded upon like nature, is only an 
arbitrary placing, which is no sign of progress in 
any dcj artment of science But all of these objects 
in the mineral kingdom have a definite plan, and 
each one has a relationship to some other. Upon 
every one of them are stamped the characters 
by which its nature may be known by those who 
look with patient study. And nothing in the de- 
partment of mind is given without labor. Any 
scheme that should fail to tax and draw out the 
mental powers, would so far be wanting in evidence 
of design. We find here a system that leads the 
mind on from one discovery to another, ever calling 
for greater and greater power, and ever meeting 
its highest requisitions by the perfection of the 
relations when discovered. What more fitting pro- 
vision than this can be conceived of.'* There is 
engraven within the very structure of all the mine- 
rals of the globe a story, an autobiography, that 
unrolls the more, the longer we gaze upon it. It is 
perfect, for the writing is a transcript by their Maker 
of the nature He has given them ; not like the 
daguerreotype, the very shadow, but the very thing 
itself It is the nature given by God, manifested in 
all these sensible signs by which the thing is 



Language of Minerals, 221 

known. So beautiful and so complete is this lan- 
guage, so valueless except in relation to man, so 
perfectly adapted to him as an intellectual being, 
and through his intellectual being becoming such a 
means of physical as well as intellectual enjoyment, 
that we seem to hear the voice of God speaking 
from the silent rocks more audibly than among the 
higher forms of animate nature. 

A celebrated mineralogist was once asked how 
he knew that a certain body had fallen from the 
heavens, which he was giving thousands of dollars 
for, to enrich his cabinet of meteorites. His answer 
was : " I see the finger-marks of the Almighty 
stamped upon every part of it ! " This might seem 
a bold expression, or as indicating some wonderful 
or unusual property in those bodies that fall from 
the heavens. But if such language could be applied 
to a meteorite, it is equally true of every pebble 
beneath our feet. To translate these marks, to read 
this language of the mineral kingdom, requires 
indeed the highest conditions of mental activity ; 
but when read, it is a language not of our making, 
but simply of our translating. We have a multitude 
of forms, but each form perfectly defined ; the sen- 
sible properties varied without limit, but all combined 
forming labels for every species in the mineral 
kingdom as perfect as the works of God ever are ; 
a language the same in every part of the world ; a 
language charming in its variety, beautiful in its 
accuracy and adaptation to the human mind. 

The nature of this language we have already indi- 



222 Natural Theology * 

cated, but we will examine it more in detail, because 
it is a part of that in which the whole book of na- 
ture is written. And he who would read the in- 
scriptions on her grand old arches, and the poems 
in her grottoes, must not despise the alphabet even, 
which, meaningless by itself, is the only key to 
unlock those well-springs of knowledge which the 
unthinking multitude never enjoy, hardly knowing 
of their existence, though walking for a lifetime 
among them. And let not those who, with eyes un- 
trained or with minds never roused to activity, see 
nothing but chaos and chance in the forms and pro- 
perties of matter, deny the existence of such a 
language ; and let not those who have labored hard 
and successfully in its translation mistake its beauty 
and completeness for their own work. We can 
present only the mere outline of this language ; but 
enough, perhaps, for our present purpose. It is 
made up of the signs or characteristics by which 
minerals are known. These signs constitute the 
language which students of this department of 
nature have been for ages enlarging and enriching 
by discovering new minerals, and by studying with 
more care those already known. I need but men- 
tion these characteristics of the mineral kingdom, 
to have it seen that they tax every sense for their 
acquirement, draw out the mind by every avenue, 
pour in knowledge by every channel, and thus vin- 
dicate their adaptation to our intellectual nature by 
offering the conditions of rapid, well-balanced men- 
tal development. 



Crystalline Form. 223 

The first of these signs is the crystalline form. 
And what a brilliant language is here introduced ! 
We have been delighted with the beauty of its 
characters, even while unable to translate a single 
word, and perhaps ignorant that they were signs 
of a language, old as creation, and sure as the 
divine oracles. It sparkles from every grain of 
sand, glitters from every well-filled cabinet, and 
streams forth in joyous gushing beams from the 
" Mountain of Light." The precious gems, like the 
stars, have in all ages delighted men by their bril- 
liancy. But it is in the study of their angles, the 
planes of cleavage, and the position of their axes, 
that the ablest minds have found a life employment, 
and seen the deepest beauties of the mineral king- 
dom. It is interesting to trace the progress of mind 
verging towards truth, peering into the myriad of 
crystalline forms, coming nearer and nearer to the 
true translation, sometimes reading a sentence cor- 
rectly without daring to vouch for its truth, or able 
to join others to complete the story, until Haiiy, by 
the fortunate crushing of a crystal, found in its 
broken fragments the primitive form, the first intel- 
ligible key to this hitherto obscure language. 

Minds that had been groping in darkness, now 
saw light flashing from the very midst of that dark- 
ness. Then was called in mathematics, that ever- 
ready instrument of progress in science. Whole 
volumes were filled with problems relating to this 
department of nature. What were all those prob- 
lems ? Not the work of men, as we too often think. 



224 Natural Theology. 

They were but lines in the translation of that Divine 
language, which needed for its completion the power 
of the whole human intellect. But the fact that this 
translation could be made into mathematical for- 
mulas at all, shows the accuracy and universality of 
this language written in the mineral kingdom. We 
are filled with wonder and admiration at the fact 
that amid the varied forms into which nature moulds 
the outer surface, as if to hide and protect from 
mortal eye as a secret charm the primitive form, 
the mind of man has been able to look beneath the 
cunning disguise. And when he has accomplished 
this, she rewards his labor by showing him that 
there are among crystals but thirteen fundamental 
forms from which all others can be derived, and of 
which they are modifications. Such a generaliza- 
tion is indeed evidence of the godlike nature of the 
human mind, and the existence of such materials 
for thought, such means of bringing the rocks of 
the earth by one grand discovery within the intel- 
lectual dominion of man, shows what provision was 
made even in binding the elements together, for 
man in his highest nature. 

We might enlarge upon the evidence of design in 
the action of the crystalline force which separates 
the mingled materials, bringing- particles of the 
same kind together, so that the metals and ores have 
been gathered in veins for the use of man, and the 
granite and marble fitted not only as the pillars of 
the earth, but for his service. We could hardly over- 
look the utility of this force in the hands of the che- 



Beauty of Crystals. 225 

mist in producing some of the wonderful operations 
demanded by his science ; but when we consider 
the beauty of form, the brilKancy of lustre, and the 
richness of color and the unchangeable nature of the 
precious stones, we can have no more doubt that 
they were made in reference to the intellectual and 
emotional nature of man, than we have that the 
fruits of the earth were made for his food. Was it 
chance that determined the constancy of angles, 
and the law of variation, so that the variety of forms 
might be without hmit and yet perfectly within the 
power of man to comprehend and describe with 
mathematical accuracy ? If the problem were given 
to meet the wants of the human intellect in the 
very dust of the earth, can the most learned philoso- 
pher conceive of a more perfect result than is found 
in the law of crystallization ? And that law is only 
the expression, in our imperfect language, of what 
was written in all crystals when as yet there was no 
man upon the earth, when the elements were created 
and brought together. If it were also a problem, 
to provide for the love of the beautiful implanted 
in man, no higher provision can be conceived of 
than is presented in these unchangeable gems. 
Their beauty is glowingly set forth in the descrip- 
tion of the Russian jewels, by an American scholar 
and poet. " The splendor of their tints is a deli- 
cious intoxication to the eye. The soul of all the 
fiery roses of Persia lives in these rubies ; the 
freshness of all velvet sward, whether in Alpine 

valley or English lawn, in these emeralds ; the 

10* 



226 Natural Theology, 

bloom of all southern seas in these sapphires ; and 
the essence of a thousand harvest moons in these 
necklaces of pearl." 

Even the glories of the Holy City in the Apo- 
calyptic vision could be set forth only in the sym- 
bols of gems. Its foundations were of sapphire and 
emerald, of topaz and amethyst. And every several 
gate was of one pearl, 

I have dwelt at length on the form and beauty of 
the crystal, because these two elements have such 
plain relations to man in his higher nature, that it 
seems impossible to refer them to any blind prin- 
ciple or to any agency except the Ordaining Intelli- 
gence that created man, and made provision for his 
progress in knowledge, and to gratify the love of 
beauty implanted within him. The beauty of crys- 
tals has been a delight in all ages, for the great ma- 
jority of them are so perfect even when they come 
from the earth that it is beyond the power of art to 
improve them ; while their structure and forms are 
conditions for the later and higher developments of 
intellect, the conditions of progress without which 
the requirements of mind are never fully met. 

And when we leave the domain of Natural His- 
tory proper, which regards only the outward form 
and structure of minerals, and examine the chemi- 
cal relation of the elements, our wonder is increased 
at the order and comprehensive law of chemical 
change and combination, by which the human mind 
has entered into the dark galleries of nature, and 
read her formulas, according to which the world was 



Power of The Chemist. 227 

made, and by which all changes in earth and air 
are now going on. The unchangeable rocks, and 
the organic beings, that dissolve and reappear, have 
all revealed their structure to us. Not only the 
outward form of the crystal, and the cleavage 
of the rocks, and the organic structure of every 
plant and animal may now be known to man, but 
the relation of the elements that constitute the 
structure is unfolded to him, as if he were present 
when that relation was ordained, in the morning 
of creation. What higher proof that man is in 
the image of God, and that the Great Father has 
acknowledged that likeness and heirship in His 
works, than is seen by the chemist, who is conscious 
of his power to command the fire and the lightning, 
whose eye can pierce the structure of the granite, 
and all the deep foundation-stones of the earth ; 
who has power to change the waters back to their 
elements ; who can trace the chemical changes in the 
invisible air above us ; conscious of his power, among 
the unnumbered compounds of nature and of art, to 
unlock their secrets and call forth their elements, 
like spirits, obedient to his will t What but an 
emanation of the Divine Mind could thus enter into 
the hidden things of creation } What but the 
ordaining. Divine Intelligence could bring all the 
works of the universe within the power of the 
human intellect t Do you say that there are heights 
yet to scale } I answer, yes ; the hills must ever 
rise before us, or there would be an end to progress ; 
but no hill appears more difficult to climb than 



228 Natural Theology. 

those already passed. And never before did man 
stand on such mountain heights, with such a back- 
ground over which he can cast his eye ; with such 
a landscape before him, inviting to new discoveries, 
the whole conspiring to proclaim him the offspring 
of God, standing in the very midst of the temple 
reared by his Father's hand. 

We are, in chemistry, beyond the reach of all 
development-theories, for the ancient mountains 
that have been waiting on their rocky thrones for 
long ages, while countless generations have come and 
gone, now invoked by the chemist's power, lift up 
their voices and declare the power and the laws of 
chemistry, the same to-day that they were when 
darkness and desolation were upon the face of the 
earth. 

And the history of man declares that he has not 
developed any new faculties or powers under the 
influence of these laws. He was the same, centu- 
ries ago, when these laws of chemistry were unknown, 
that he is now. He has increased in knowledge, 
but is not changed in his nature by their discovery. 
The child, who has never heard of atomic weights, 
and whose ancestors have all been as ignorant of 
chemical science as though Dalton and Davy had 
never lived, may be just as ready to enter into its 
wonders, and to grasp its principles, as though his 
father were a Liebig, or a Bunsen. His power to 
grasp science, comes from a higher paternity. He 
is the offspring of God, and is thus ever ready to 
comprehend a portion of his Father's works. 



Relations of the Elements. 229 

In a former lecture, we referred to the change of 
affinity under varied conditions, as in the case of 
carbon, and the formation of nitric acid from 
ammonia, in the presence of a base to neutrahze it. 
These are only isolated examples of changes of 
which every chemist avails himself in chemical 
analysis. 

He learns in what condition each element is 
weak, and when it is strong ; he learns the changes 
that every element produces in combination with 
every other ; and as he questions Nature she gives 
unvarying answers in change of color, change of 
form, and in the evolution of light or heat or electri- 
city. And when he finds the elements combining by 
exact weight and measure, and their order of affin- 
ity so established, that he can foretell the order 
and proportion of their combination when thrown 
together, and count with absolute certainty upon 
the composition and properties of every compound, 
he has another proof of the adaptation of the laws 
of matter to mind. The laws of the invisible atoms 
have been discovered by men, and those secret 
changes which constitute the basis of chemical 
science, ordained from the beginning of the world, 
are among the most certain subjects of human 
knowledge. It seems impossible that one should 
enter into the rich inheritance which chemistry 
now opens to her students without recognizing in- 
finite wisdom in the relations of the elements to each 
other, and a provision in them for man as an intel- 
lectual being, that he might comprehend there the 



230 Natural Theology. 

divine plan, and wield those elements for his own 
purposes, as his progress in civilization calls for 
new products and new appliances of matter and of 
force. 



LECTURE IX. 

PROVISION FOR man's INTELLECT IN THE RELATIONS 
OF ORGANIC BEINGS AND IN THE CRUST OF THE 
EARTH. 

Kingdom of life. — Mathematical law conti7tMed. — Orders of 
plants. — Animals. — Fossils. — All form one picture. — Sci- 
ence discovered. — Manifestation of thought iri Nature. — As- 
tronomy. — Enthusiastn oj N^aturalists. — Geology. — Present 
changes its key. — Provision for man'' s physical wants pre- 
supposes his i^itellectual natiire. — Crust of the earth shows 
design. — Man multiplies his powers. — Properties of i7ietals. 
Gold aiid Silver . — P latiniwi.— Mercury . — Iron. — Loadstone. 
— Metals essential to 7nan''s progress. — Fuel for man alone. 
— Power which Che7nistry gives him. — Plants attd attifnals 
made to minister to his physical wants through his intel- 
lectual power. 

We pass now to the kingdom of life. We have here 
the manifestation of a new principle that is con- 
nected chiefly with four elements, and gives rise to 
more forms than are found in the whole mineral king- 
dom. Vitality gives relations and developments en- 
tirely unlike those in the lower department, and not 
even suggested by anything found there. We have 
here the relation of parent to offspring, by which 
matter is moulded into a continued series of similar 
forms, not by a force in it, but by something higher 
than physical forces, giving us animal and vegetable 
structures in which perfection and beauty depend 
upon the constant change of matter, while in the 



232 Natural Theology. 

crystal they depend upon its permanence. We have 
not here stepped beyond the limits of mathematical 
law, but it is obscured by more deviations than in 
the most complicated crystal. What myriad forms 
start up on every side ! Let us sketch an outline 
of the picture, that we may see how utterly hopeless 
all attempts at science would be had not an Ordain- 
ing Intelligence fitted all things for the intellectual 
nature of man. 

Here we see the plant of single cell, cradled in 
the northern snow ; its kindred lurking in every 
pool — the fungus, scavenger among plants, feeding 
on decaying fibre — the lichen and the moss, pictur- 
ing the broad rocks with fairy groves and rings — 
the grasses weaving their carpets of green and 
yielding their riches in almost every portion of the 
earth — the fir, dwarf birch, and willow, braving the 
mountain storms, or creeping almost to eternal 
snows — the pine, whispering its sad meanings in 
dark and gloomy forests — the oak, spreading its 
arms in strength — the orange and citron, loading 
the air with perfume — the broad palm, lifting its 
feathery leaves in quiet grandeur to the sky, and 
the algse binding the ocean with one eternal fringe 
of rich and varied hues. Mingled with all these are 
thousands of other plants that adorn every land- 
scape, as rich in product, as curious in structure, 
and as varied in form. And all these are minister- 
ing to a higher form of life — the animal kingdom, 
that, starting so near the vegetable kingdom that 
we cannot draw the dividing line between the two, 



Organic Kiiigdoin. 233 

bursts into a wealth of forms with sensitive life, 
ending in man, endowed with thought and reason, 
with power to understand this chain of beings, as 
he is their appointed lord and their connecting link 
with the Maker of them all. 

Among these we know the polyp, that with radi- 
ate masonry builds its walls and mounds strong 
enough to shut back the ocean, and broad enough 
for nations to dwell upon. 

The waters teem with fishes and shells, the air 
with birds and insects, the fields and forests with 
the higher tribes, and the rocks with the casts and 
figures of those that lived in geologic time. We 
reckon our species of plants and animals by hun- 
dreds of thousands, besides the vast numbers 
of the fossil series. A single species, among the 
cultivated plants, may come to be represented by 
more than a thousand distinct varieties. 

It is in this field, among these countless hosts of 
the kingdom of life, that the human mind has 
achieved some of its greatest triumphs, in tracing 
the grand design by which the vast multitude of or- 
ganic beings are so related in their plan of struc- 
ture, that the whole series can be comprehended by 
a single mind. And when we add to the living 
forms the countless host that the rocks contain, we 
do not confuse the picture, but only make its shad- 
ings more perfect. All the labors of the army of 
naturalists have tended to this one result: to bring 
out order and system, not by creating them, but by 
reading the plan and discovering the grouping which 



234 Natural Theology. 

Nature has already made. She prepared the 
work so that the mind of man should be fully satis- 
fied when it was comprehended. She prepared it 
in such a way that the best powers of the mind should 
be called out in discovering and comprehending it. 
Nature never arranges. She does, indeed, put her 
symbolic language on every stone in her temple. 
But though the building is perfect to the eye of the 
Great Architect, it is a perfection of relation and 
not of position. Its blocks are like those so pre- 
pared in the mountain, that no sound of hammer or 
any tool of iron was heard when they were joined 
together. It seems chaos to man until that relation 
is perceived as it existed in the Divine Mind and is 
manifested in his works. The blocks are scattered 
where they were fashioned by the Creator, on every 
continent, the islands of the sea, and beneath the 
waters. Their true place is written in their struc- 
ture ; it is repeated in every change, from the un- 
folding of the germ to the perfect being. But it is 
the gathering up of these scattered fragments, 
so that their relation shall be seen by man, as they 
formed a perfect whole to the omnipresent eye in 
the first creation — it is this entering into the thought 
of God by the army of naturalists, that is the great 
triumph of intellect. This shows both the divine type 
of the human mind, and also the perfect provision 
that has been made for it in the organic world, that 
the whole plan of structure, and the manifold rela- 
tions, should all be perfectly within the grasp of that 
mind, and be adapted to its nature ; adapted to it in 



Search for Truth. 235 

calling out its powers and in meeting its highest 
conceptions of wisdom and skill in the nature and 
perfection of the relations discovered. 

It is this search, this gradual unfolding of the 
Great Master's thought, that has quickened the 
senses and strengthened the powers of Aristotle, 
Linnaeus, and Cuvier, and of the long list of the dead 
and living naturalists almost equally worthy of men- 
tion. The record of single struggles and of single 
triumphs, had we time to recount them, would not 
only prove to us the intensity of thought, the tax- 
ing of the senses, and the broad generalizations 
through which each of the great naturalists has 
passed, but would show that every truth searched 
out and brought within the domain of science, by 
discovered relations to other truths, has repeated 
this higher, this sublime truth, which transforms the 
world from a mere machine to a living interpreter 
of God's character to man ; this truth, that all por- 
tions of the universe, its matter and forces, were so 
arranged in reference to the mind of man, that 
he might comprehend them and recognize in their 
Builder the omnipotent Being of whom he is the 
image. 

And what part of the physical world is there 
which we can afhrm to be beyond the power of 
man to unravel ? 

The stars, whose light in coming to our earth has 
darted for years through space — whose distance is 
more millions of miles than we can comprehend — 
are man's figures on the great dial-plate of the 



236 Natural Theology. 

heavens. He predicts the changes of the planets, 
giving us a map of these heavens as they shall ap- 
pear some night in coming ages. How perfect 
must be the image mind, that can thus comprehend 
and trace out the work of the Great Original ! 

In other departments, the work has not yet 
been so perfectly done as in Astronomy. But it 
has been well begun, although science is in its in- 
fancy, and much remains to be accomplished before 
man enters into the full inheritance of nature, which 
belongs to him as the offspring and heir of God. 
There have been mistakes, indeed ; but each true stu- 
dent of Nature has in some points been successful. 
These mistakes have arisen because the life of one 
man was not long enough to read every sign cor- 
rectly, or because he attempted to form an arch from 
the materials at hand, while the key-stone, perhaps, 
was fashioned on another continent, reserved as a 
discovery for some more fortunate workman. 

In respect to material for study, Astronomy has a 
vast advantage over almost every other natural 
science. A man may station himself in any portion 
of the earth, and the heavens, as they roll over him, 
will give him the means of forming a perfect system 
of Astronomy ; while one who would study the 
crust of our earth, or discover the relationship of 
plants or animals upon the globe, must either travel 
or avail himself of the labors of others who can 
bring to him the results of their explorations. And 
the labor to which men will submit, that they may 
bring the scattered blocks of this glorious temple 



Geology. 237 

together, till the eye of man can see the perfection 
of its work, and its beautiful proportions, is another 
proof of the perfect adaptation of these works to 
the higher nature of man. No other worldly good, 
but gold, has ever sent men on such long and peril- 
ous journeys. The gradual unfolding of the plan 
of nature so enchains the mind, that ease is for- 
gotten and money despised, except as a means. It 
is never valued for a moment, compared with pro- 
gress in this pursuit. Linnaeus not only roused his 
mind and body to the work, so that weariness and 
disease were almost forgotten, but his pupils were 
fired with that enthusiasm which sent them round 
the world, to find for their teacher and for them- 
selves, new lines in this book of nature. 

There is one department of science, embracing, 
indeed, the whole range of Natural History, in which 
the most brilliant revelations were reserved for our 
day, and where the human mind has yet its grandest 
problems to solve in the material world. Slowly 
from the mountain and the valley did light break in 
upon the mind, and the great truth become esta- 
blished, that in the bosom of the earth, where there 
had for ages seemed to be mere chaos and confu- 
sion, there was a divine volume of stony leaves with 
strange inscriptions — the record of unnumbered or- 
ganized beings, kept through long ages amid the 
convulsions of the globe, the warring elements of 
fire and water, all perfect for man the translator. 
He has already read enough to learn that the 
earth's true history is written in this volume, and 



238 Natural Theology. 

that in this apparent chaos there is perfect order 
and a provision for man as an intellectual as well as 
a physical being. 

The student of antiquities has no lexicon except 
some chance Rosetta stone, for reading the strange 
inscriptions on the bricks and slabs of those an- 
cient, buried cities. Their engravers, and those who 
wrote and spoke the languages, are gone ; not a 
single letter will ever be added to those already 
written. From them alone, unchanging and un- 
changeable, must a key be found by which the world 
can unlock their meaning. Not so of the history 
written in the rocks of the earth. No Rosetta stone 
is needed to throw light upon these inscriptions. 
The language engraven there, God is repeating 
every year in the sunshine and storm, and in the 
varied forms of animals and plants that live and 
die. This language the students of nature had 
already begun to learn. As they opened the leaves 
of stone, the forms were strange indeed, and anti- 
quated, like the characters in the old black-letter 
volumes of our libraries, but the language was soon 
seen to be the same as had been the mother-tongue 
of naturalists for generations. The intellectual 
triumphs in this field are too recent to need mention 
here. The ablest leaders have still their armor on. 
But for fifty years, there has been no such field of 
thought as Geology ; no study to which the universal 
mind has so turned ; none that has thrown up such a 
background where thought can rest, or run back 
through the ages. No place in the i niverse can 



Provision for Ma7i. 239 

man reach where the footprints of the Creator can 
be more clearly traced than in the crust of this 
earth ; no part of His creation has more manifest 
reference to man. 

It may seem, at the first glance, that design 
in the structure of the earth's crust has special 
reference to man as a physical being. But we must 
not overlook the fact that some of the most wonder- 
ful provisions in the crust of the earth for man's 
physical wants, presuppose his intellectual nature, 
and his progress in civilization. There was a cer- 
tain wise provision made for him, as there was for 
the whole animal kingdom, in the outline of conti- 
nents, the mountain ranges and the river systems, 
and in the preparation of the earth for vegetation 
by the mighty machinery of the glacial period. All 
these provisions on a scale so vast, and with adjust- 
ments so perfect for the support of vegetable and 
animal life, are so plainly ordained by some compre- 
hensive Intellect that saw the end from the begin- 
ning, and guided all the agencies through the geolo- 
gic ages till the earth appeared in its present beauty, 
that we can only wonder that any mind can be satis- 
fied to regard them as the accidental results of fire 
and water and living things. These have been mere 
servants in the Master's hand. We see that second- 
ary agencies have done the work ; but when we have 
traced the plan through the whole structure, that 
plan, according to which the earth moved on towards 
its present state, by a process like the growth and 
changes of a living being, until it was prepared for 



240 Natural Theology. 

man, we find recorded in the rocks what Moses 
wrote, in substance, three thousand years ago : 
And God said, Let tJie earth be prepared for 'inaii. 
For this is a summary of the first chapter of Gene- 
sis. And we wish to show, that in addition to these 
provisions which simply make the earth a fit dwell- 
ing-place for the animal kingdom, there have been 
most wonderful provisions made for man alone ; but 
provisions that he can avail himself of only as he is 
an intellectual and progressive being. 

We recognize this provision for the intellect 
in the nature of the various elements, and in their 
distribution. The metals, the coal and the oil, of 
each of which the earth holds inexhaustible quanti- 
ties, are for man alone ; but he can avail himself of 
them only as he is an intellectual being. He 
reads the earth's history, translates her inscriptions, 
and thus becoming master of her secrets, opens her 
treasure-house and supplies his wants. 

With these treasures and with this mind, behold 
the wonders that man accomplishes. He multiplies 
his power ten thousand fold. He drives his vessels 
against wind and tide. He lowers the hills and fills 
the valleys ; stretching the iron rail, he whirls along 
with breath of steam and sinews of iron that never 
tire. He speaks through the iron wire, and his 
friend hears the message though a thousand- miles 
away. He peers into space with his telescopes, maps 
out the hills aad vallies of the moon, and measures 
the belts and bands of planets. He brings to light 
the hidden mysteries of the dust, and living forms 



The Metals. 



241 



too small for the unassisted eye to discern. He 
arms himself with thunderbolts, and with the deadly 
rifle and ponderous cannon he becomes terrible as 
a destroyer. All this he does because by intellect 
he seizes upon the provisions that have been made 
for him alone in the crust of the earth. As there 
is no limit to his intellectual improvement, so there 
is no limit to the provisions that have been made 
in the elements, and their combinations for this 
nature with which he has been gifted. If we con- 
sider the gathering together of the metals in veins 
in the earth, and the comparative quantity of each, 
according to its relation to the progress of man, we 
cannot fail to recognize a wonderful and perfect pro- 
vision ; a provision depending upon so many condi- 
tions, that we seem necessarily to infer an intelligent 
provider. Like the many cases already cited, so 
many conditions must meet to secure the result, 
that he alone is chargeable with credulity who refers 
such combinations to chance. If we consider the 
properties, physical and chemical, of the metals 
alone, we have a marvellous provision for man ; a 
provision without which he would find no fitting 
means of embodying his grandest conceptions in 
material forms ; no means of becoming lord and 
master of the earth ; no means of manifesting those 
higher characteristics of which civilization is both 
the offspring and parent. In fact, without the 
metals mainly as they are, man would be like the 
bird without an atmosphere, though spreading its 
wings, doomed ever to walk upon the earth. 

n 



242 Natural Theology. 

We have first the metals, gold and silver, almost 
defying the power of oxygen, beautiful and capable 
of being drawn into finest wires, and hammered into 
thinnest sheets. They meet the wants of man by 
gratifying the love of the beautiful, which they do, 
not by any conventional usage, or because they hap- 
pen to be rare, but by an intrinsic beauty, and the 
power of retaining, for an almost unlimited time, the 
delicate work with which the cunning of the artist 
has enriched them. They also meet our demands 
in art and science and in commerce. 

In platinum we have another noble metal, without 
which the chemist would feel his power wonderfully 
abridged. It seemed to be discovered just when the 
progress of science absolutely demanded such a sub- 
stance. If the chemist had ordered a substance for 
his use, he could have hardly combined in it all the 
desirable properties which he already recognizes in 
this metal. Its infusibility is extreme, withstanding, 
as it does, the most intense combustion of the ordi- 
nary furnace, yet welding at a comparatively mode- 
rate heat. It almost defies the strongest simple acid, 
but yields readily to nitric and hydrochloric, mixed. 
It is one of the densest known substances, and yet 
is capable of being put into the most porous form of 
any metal known. These properties, which make 
it so valuable for apparatus, and the chemical nature 
of its salts, strike me as a wonderful provision ; and 
I never look at the platinum ware of the laboratory, 
the crucibles, and foil, and wires, and other forms in 
which this substance is used, without recognizing a 



Mercury — Iron. 243 

direct provision for the intellectual progress of man. 
I might, indeed, add the same of many other articles 
found there, but as I am speaking of the metals, I 
omit the other substances for the present. • 

In strong contrast to the metals already men- 
tioned, is mercury, but hardly less useful and seem- 
ingly necessary for scientific research. Liquid, at 
common temperatures, it dissolves other metals, and 
by its aid the gold and silver are readily extracted 
from the ores. How difficult it would be to find a 
substitute for it in the thermometer, barometer, and 
many other instruments known to men of science ! 
We know not where to look for a substitute ; we could 
not well get along without it. It happens to be 
the very substance we want to complete the metallic 
series — very unlike all other metals — and, because 
so unlike, filling an important place among those 
materials which seem essential to human progress. 

Too common, almost, to attract attention, is iron ; 
but it possesses a number of properties, so marked, 
that it seems impossible they should be studied with- 
out producing the conviction that they were an ex- 
press provision for man. It is hardly possible for 
us to conceive in what state man must have remain- 
ed to this day without iron ; how low in civilization, 
and how powerless, compared with what he now is. 
Before speaking of its properties, we cannot fail to 
notice the fact of its abundance. It is distributed 
in almost every portion of the globe ; and, certainly, 
in such large quantities, that there will be enough 
for all mankind while the world stands. 



244 Natural Theology. 

They may weave their iron tracks like a net-work 
over the continents, span the rivers with iron 
arches, plough the ocean with iron hulls, stretch 
iron wire§ from city to city, cover the roads with iron 
cars, and build iron palaces, and yet the mountains 
of iron ore will hardly be diminished in size. 

It might seem at first thought, that want of design 
is shown in the fact, that so useful a substance is 
seldom if ever found in a pure state. But a mine 
of solid iron would hardly pay for working. So 
hard a substance is it in a pure state, that huge 
masses would seem to defy the miner's power. But 
as a brittle ore, it is easily quarried, and is thus 
brought readily into the conditions most serviceable 
to man. 

Its first property worthy of special notice is its 
chemical relation to oxygen and carbon, by which 
its ores so readily yield in the blast furnace their 
oxygen, unite with carbon, and become cast-iron, 
with the physical property of expanding just as it 
solidifies, so as to fill the mould and give the sharp- 
est outline to the finest figures on the pattern. 

If we consider it as cast-iron alone, we find it 
perfectly adapted to its purpose. As wrought-iron, 
it is obedient to the fire and hammer, taking the 
thousand forms which the workman demands, bend- 
ing, yielding, and welding, and then, when cold 
again, holding the form he has given it with the 
power of a giant. 

Combined with carbon it becomes steel. And 
what a multitude of uses the very word suggests ; 



Steel — Magnetism. 245 

It may be cast in moulds, it may be made soft, like 
common iron, or hardened in a moment almost like 
the diamond. And between these extremes, any 
degree of hardness can be secured that the workman 
desires. He can divide the bar, and from one por- 
tion make a blade that shall cut the other part as 
though it were wax. He can obtain from it the 
most brilliant surface and the keenest edge ; he can 
form the strongest links, and the most delicate 
springs, that, fine as a thread, for a whole lifetime 
shall never tire in controlling the delicate balance 
of the watch. 

All these diverse properties in cast and wrought- 
iron, and in steel, fit this metal to become the great 
instrument of progress in the hands of man, but it 
is great to him only as he is an intellectual being. 
Its properties are developed, and its uses discovered, 
as in his advancing civilization he feels conscious of 
new wants. There are in iron, unbounded possibili- 
ties. But it is to all creatures on the globe, except 
to man, like the sand or rocks that make the soil. 

I must not omit to mention the magnetic power of 
iron and its relation to electricity. One of its ores is 
the loadstone, which was for ages a mere curiosity or 
wonder to men in early days of science. But in that 
curious mineral was the latent power, that in the hands 
of man was to give him the magnetic needle, and in 
wider application, the magnetic telegraph. The 
needle of steel, touched with this mysterious stone, 
thenceforth became a guide to the mariner upon the 
deep, when storms and clouds shut out the friendly 



246 Natural Theology. 

stars. And when the electric fluid was made to de- 
velop magnetism at will, and the iron wire was found 
to be a pathway for the lightning, the conditions and 
properties were becoming known, that in the end 
should bring distant nations as near together as 
neighbors of the same village. The transient mag- 
netic power of iron, the permanent magnetic power 
of steel, either of which no man can explain, and all 
the relations of electricity to iron and air and 
chemical action, constitute the conditions of this 
grand triumph of man over the material world. No 
Arabian tales of magic power, in commanding de- 
mons of earth and air, can equal the power of man, 
who, sitting by his battery, calls, by the touch of 
the finger, " spirits from the vasty deep," and sends 
them with the speed of light with messages a thou- 
sand miles away. But iron is the most potent wand 
he wields. Take this from him and he is almost 
powerless. 

What need of dwelling on the other materials, 
that either alone, or in combination, respond to the 
increasing demands of science and art } How every 
property possible to be conceived of as desirable, is 
found in some ore, or in its alloy. Who can recount 
the multifarious uses of copper, and lead, and tin, 
and zinc, and all their combinations, meeting the 
varied wants of man, but needful to him only as an 
intellectual being ! 

Nor is it to the metals, alone, that we look for this 
special relation to man, but to almost every element 
found in abundance on the globe. We have already 



Fuel. 247 

referred to this adaptation to his intellect, in their 
chemical relations, thus making the science of che- 
mistry possible. We regard every natural science, 
indeed, only as an expression of the relation of that 
part of nature to the mind of man. But in addi- 
tion to this chemical relation of the elements to each 
other, so beautiful and satisfactory, there is an adap- 
tation of each and all of them as servants of man, 
as ministering to his physical wants ; but minister- 
ing to him only because, by his intellect, he first 
subdues them, entering into the secrets of their 
nature, and thus finding in them means of perpetual 
improvement. 

We have already referred, in another connection, 
to the evidence of design in the relations of carbon 
and hydrogen as fuel. But the very idea of fuel, as 
ministering to physical comfort, implies intellect. 
Fire is the servant of man. No race has been found 
so degraded as to be without it, and there is no his- 
tory to tell of men who were ignorant of its use. 
No mere animal has been found with any power to 
secure it, or with any apparent knowledge of its use, 
except as a source of comfort, supplied to him by 
man. Fire is a provision for man alone ; and every 
provision in nature for combustion, is either without 
significance, or it has reference to the intellectual 
nature. The nature of carbon and hydrogen, the 
beds of coal, the fountains of oil, the accumula- 
tion of woody fibre in the trunk of the tree as heart- 
wood, which is of no special service to the tree itself 
— all of these substances, with their nicely-balanced 



248 Natural Theology. 

affinities, which we considered when treating of the 
chemical elements — all of these have relations to mind 
alone. If, then, we consider the physical provisions 
for man, we find the most abundant evidence that 
his highest physical good was to be secured only 
through the exercise of his intellect. The coal, and 
wood, and metals, and marbles, supplement his high- 
er nature. They make a world fitted for a progres- 
sive being. They minister, in their natural forms, 
to the good of all organic beings ; but in their rela- 
tion to man, they rise into another plane and sup- 
plement his power, as the hand of man, in its cun- 
ning, rises above the fin of the fish, or the wing of 
the bird. 

At no time before in the history of the world 
was there anything like the proof of the perfect 
adaptation of the world to the higher nature of man 
that we have now. When before could he search 
the earth for treasures as he can now .-* He has but 
just entered into the fullness of this inheritance. 
When before had he the art of moulding these pro- 
ducts into such unnumbered forms for his comfort 
and delight } He draws and moulds the metals 
into a thousand forms, and the sands are melted 
into crystal glass. He takes up a dull ore from the 
earth, and by the magic power of chemistry throws 
it back changed to the finest pigments. We admire 
the multiplied means of enjoyment which civilization 
now has at its command. We admire that power in 
man that enables hini to compass the earth, and 
bind its forces, and make them his servants. But 



Fruits and Grains. 249 

how powerless the intellect of man would be without 
materials fitted to his powers ! 

It is not in the crust of the earth alone that the 
intellect of man has been considered, but also in 
the structure of the animals and plants that now 
live. The fruits came to their perfection, and burst 
into that wealth of variety which we now enjoy, 
only under the fostering" care of an intellectual 
being. The precious grains of the earth, prepared 
undoubtedly for man, can supply his wants only 
through the exercise of mind. They must be cared 
for ; the soil must be prepared, and the grains must 
be scattered, and the harvest must be gathered, by 
man. Nor is it yet proper food for him. The 
grains that supply so large a portion of the race are 
certainly a provision for their physical wants, but 
these grains would either perish from the earth, or 
be almost useless to man were he no higher in 
mental power than the lower animals. The guid- 
ing mind of man is needed to preserve and prepare 
them for his food. 

Thus it is that every physical want of man in his 
highest state, is provided for, not by the products of 
the world in their natural state, as the lower animals 
are supplied, or as man may in some places be sup- 
plied while in a state of barbarism. 

But man in his upward progress, finds ever open- 
ing before him new possibilities, new sources of 
delight and progress, in the elements and in the 
organic beings that abound on the earth. When 
we consider what man has done, in chaining the 

II* 



250 Natural Theology. 

forces of nature, in changing the form of the chemi- 
cal elements, in calling to his service the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms, making them all contri- 
bute to his comfort, giving food, and shelter, and 
clothing, all through the power of mind, we under- 
stand that sovereignty delegated to him by the 
Creator, when he said of man, ^^Let us make man 
in our image^ after our likeness ; and let him have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
of the airy and over the cattle, and over all the eai^th, 
and over every creepirtg thing that creepeth upon the 
earth" 



LECTURE X. 

PROVISION FOR THE EMOTIONAL NATURE AND THE 
VARIED INTELLECTUAL TASTES AND POWERS OF 
MEN. 

Love of the beautiful. — Provision for it in nature. — Taste. — 
Fine Arts founded up07i nature. — Poetry. — Bible lan- 
guage. — Painting and sculpture. — Music. — Conditiofts ne- 
cessary for it. — Beauty of outline and color. — Clouds. — 
Crystals. — Plants. — Ittcrease of beauty i7i leaf and flower. — 
Double flowers. — Microscopic animals. — Corals. — felly- 
fishes. — Shells. — Their beauty not for themselves. — In- 
sects. — Distribution of their color. — Vertebrates. — Beauty 
of fossils. — Grandeur and sublii7iity. — E?notional nature 
perfect in man ages ago. — Different intellectual tastes pro- 
vided for. — Advance ifi scieiice and art thus secured. — 
Sciences yet to be tinfolded. 

We have considered, in the last two lectures, the 
adaptations of the world to the intellectual nature 
of man. This adaptation was shown to exist in that 
order and harmony, that mathematical and mechani- 
cal connection of the objects in nature by which the 
mind of man is not only able to grasp the plan of 
creation, but finds in the study of natural objects the 
constant source of mental improvement and delight. 
We also showed that the provisions made for the 
physical nature of man have reference to his intel- 
lectual nature, as it is only through mind that he can 
avail himself of the metals and forces of nature, 



252 . Natural Theology. 

and those products most valuable for food, raiment, 
and shelter. 

But it is not alone the physical welfare of man, 
and that pure intellect which is satisfied with weight 
and measure and established relation, that have been 
provided for, in constituting the elements and the 
varied objects in the world. There has been given 
to man an emotional nature, one manifestation of 
which is the love of the beautiful. And for the 
gratification of this love there has been made most 
ample and special provision. We have made some 
reference to this fact in the subjects already treated 
of For we can draw no dividing lines in the works 
of nature that shall completely separate one provi- 
sion from another. Beauty and utility are in gene- 
ral so interwoven, that while we speak of one, the 
other can never be entirely ignored. But the pro- 
vision for man, as a lover of the beautiful, is as 
ample and as striking as any other that has been 
made. Nature is to him the cosmos revealing a 
mind and speaking to the mind in its varied lan- 
guage of order, proportion, and grandeur, thus ever, 
awakening the emotions of beauty and sublimity. 
The faculty or constitution of the mind by which 
we perceive these qualities and enjoy these emo- 
tions of beauty and sublimity, is Taste. To aid in 
gratifying this faculty we have the fine arts, which 
are the creations of genius to supply the demands of 
Taste. But genius would be powerless without the 
patterns which the Great Master has given in the 
things he has created. As that is true science 



The Fine Arts. . 253 

alone that reveals the relations established by the 
creative Intellect, so the whole history of the fine 
arts shows that God has here established immuta- 
ble relations between the love of the beautiful im- 
planted by Him in man, and the world which he has 
fitted up for man's abode. No genius can ignore 
this relation and succeed in any one of the fine arts, 
any more than the intellect of man can make a 
science. Those works of art have alone stood the 
test of time that approach the patterns God has 
given. The voice of the Most High speaks to the 
artist as to Moses in the building of the Tabernacle : 
"And look that thou make them after the pattern 
which was showed thee in the mounts 

All the creations of poetry, sculpture, and paint- 
ing, are either reproductions of natural scenes and 
natural objects, or embellished by them. Glance 
for a moment at your favorite authors ; the poet, 
whose sweet song charms and gives enjoyment by 
its refining power ; the orator, whose words enchained 
every listener ; and see how much they were in- 
debted for their influence over the mind to symbols 
drawn from nature. Their words may be joined by the 
rules of grammar and logic ; they may convince the 
intellect by the force of reasoning ; they may arouse 
the will by the plea of interest ; but when they would 
charm with beauty, they must reach forth for the 
gems and flowers of nature. The stars glitter 
in literature almost as they do in the heavens. The 
bands of Orion and the sweet influence of the 
Pleiades, and all the famous constellations, have beau- 



254 - Natural Theology. 

tified almost every language. There is force and 
beauty even in the language of the savage borrowed 
from natural objects. When the poet would sing 
of the Indians' legends and traditions he repeats 
them as he heard them from the lips of Nawadaha, 
as he found them 

"In the bird's nest of the forest, 
In the lodges of the beaver, 
In the hoof-prints of the bison. 
In the eyry of the eagle." 

All along the stream of ancient song the beauties 
of the natural world are set in thick and sweet pro- 
fusion, not gathered into clusters, but adding to the 
richness of the poetic imagery as flowers deck the 
meadows. And the soft numbers seem to flow like 
crystal streams reflecting the nodding verdure on 
their grassy banks. How beautifully are they 
braided into song as a chaplet for the tomb of the 
Grecian poet. 

" Ye evergreens, around the tomb 

Of Sophocles your osiers braid. 
And ivy, spread thy pensive gloom 

To form above the bard a shade. 
And intertwine the blushing rose 

And gentle vine your leaves among. 
Thus gemmed with beauty shall your boughs 

Prove emblems of his graceful song." 

Poems in our own language speak as plainly of the 
power of the natural world to delight man by dis- 



Bible Language. 255 

plays of beauty and of grandeur. To meet the 
demands of taste implanted in man, the sons of 
genius and of song have gone forth into nature for 
their subjects and their illustrations. So that every 
poet, worthy of the name, in every language and in 
every age, whether he would or not, has been a 
priest of the Most High, in making known the per- 
fection of His works in their adaptation to the emo- 
tional nature of man. 

If we needed higher illustration not only of the 
power of natural objects to adorn language and gra- 
tify taste, but proof that here we find the highest 
conceivable beauty, we should appeal at once to the 
Bible. Those most opposed to its teachings have 
acknowledged the beauty of its language ; and this 
is due mainly to the exquisite use of natural objects 
for illustration. It does indeed draw from every 
field. But when the emotional nature was to be 
appealed to, the reference was at once to natural 
objects ; and throughout all its books, the stars and 
flowers and gems are prominent as illustrations of 
the beauties of religion and the glories of the 
Church. 

" The wilderness and the solitary place shall be 
glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blos- 
som as the rose." 

" The mountains and the hills shall break forth 
before you into singing, and all the trees of the fields 
shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall 
come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall 
come up the myrtle-tree." 



256 Natural Theology. 

The power and beauty of these same objects 
appear in the Saviour's teachings. The fig and the 
ohve, the sparrow and the Hly of the field, give 
peculiar force and beauty to the great truths they 
were used to illustrate. 

The Bible throughout is remarkable in this re- 
spect. It is a collection of books written by authors 
far removed from each other in time and place and 
mental culture, but throughout the whole, nature is 
exalted as a revelation of God. Its beauty and 
sublimity are appealed to to arouse the emotions, 
and through the emotions to reach the moral and 
religious nature. This element of unity runs through 
all the books where references to nature can be 
made. One of the adaptations of the Bible to the 
nature of man is found in the sublime and perfect 
representation of the natural world, by which nature 
is ever made to proclaim the character and perfec- 
tions of God. No language can be written, that so 
perfectly sets forth the grand and terrible in nature 
and its forces, as we hear when God answers Job 
out of the whirlwind. No higher appreciation of 
the beautiful, and of God as the author of beauty, 
was ever expressed than when our Saviour said of 
the lilies of the field, " I say unto you that even 
Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one 
of these ; " and then adds ; " If God so clothe the 
grass of the field" — ascribing the element of beauty 
in every leaf and opening bud to the Creator's skill 
and power. 

Thus, in all the adorning of common language, 



Poetry — Painting — Sculpture. 257 

in poetry itself, and in the vivid pictures of divine 
inspiration, the sweetest note that strikes the ear 
comes from the landscape ; the brightest picture 
is the landscape itself All that Taste has ever de- 
manded for her gratification, genius has here found ; 
and if God is the author of both nature and the 
mind, here we should expect that among the crystals, 
flowers and sensitive life, the emotional nature of man 
would find one of its highest earthly gratifications. 
In painting and sculpture the human mind is striv- 
ing for the same that appears in poetry and in the 
adorning of common language. It is the gratifica- 
tion of the love of the beautiful. Poetry, painting, 
and sculpture, have moved on together in all ages. 
They are the natural outgrowth of the human mind. 
And the great masters have gained their preemi- 
nence from their clear conceptions of nature, and 
the emotional in man, and their skill in selecting 
from one what should meet the wants of the other. 
The artist who can so combine the hints of nature 
as to make a perfect whole, need have no fear of 
being forgotten or neglected. 

As nature is the store-house from which writers 
draw, and the pattern according to which they must 
work, so must this also be true of the painter and 
sculptor, who would trace upon the canvas and 
chisel from marble, figures that shall glow forever 
with the warm expression of life. 

But if no line of poetry had ever been written, no 
canvas ever glowed with colors, and no sculptor had 
ever found the statue within the block of marble, we 



258 Natural Theology. 

could not fail to recognize the provision that has 
been made in nature for us, as emotional beings, 
and lovers of the grand and beautiful. 

We have referred to the fine arts only as evidence 
that men have in all ages recognised this provision, 
and that in all their attempts to appeal to the emo- 
tional in man, they have sought to follow nature. 
And when we rise into the higher spiritual sphere, 
we still are dependent upon nature's symbols, in 
order to express our conceptions of these higher 
beauties. The heavens and the earth, in their 
grandeur and beauty, as pictures of unequalled com- 
position, are daily presenting new occasions for won- 
der and enjoyment ; while each distinct object, that 
like the pencil-stroke, completes the picture, has its 
own power by its beauty or grandeur, to call out 
the emotions of the soul, and give its revenue of 
pleasure. 

How much enjoyment comes to us through the 
sweet sounds of music ! The ear was formed with 
power to mark the nice distinction of sounds ; and 
bird and insect ; the brook tinkling over its pebbly 
bed ; the ocean, and the thunders, in their deep diapa- 
sons, give the elements of the sweetest and grand- 
est melodies. If we consider music as an art, minis- 
tering to our enjoyment, we cannot fail to observe 
how many conditions are necessary in us, and in the 
physical nature of the elements, that this source of 
enjoyment should be possible, and so rich. The 
sense of hearing we have already considered in a 
former lecture ; but all the common uses of this sense 



Music. 259 

would have been answered without the power of 
appreciating music. 

The sense of hearing is not absolutely essential 
to man. It is plain he might exist upon the globe 
without it. The race would, indeed, be vastly lower 
than it now is, for we are not to judge from what 
mutes become under the teaching of those who can 
hear, what a race of deaf mutes would be, if left to 
make progress for themselves. 

Hearing is undoubtedly one of the important adap- 
tations by which man, as a physical being, is fitted 
to this world ; but the power to appreciate music is 
an entirely different thing. No necessity for it can 
be pointed out, if we consider man merely as an 
animal ; it is simply and solely a source of enjoy- 
ment. As a condition of this enjoyment, we have 
the power of appreciating the music when it is pro- 
duced ; a power which does not belong to us neces- 
sarily, for some are without it. We have also the 
nature of material objects, by which sounds are pro- 
duced. There is no necessity in the case that air, 
when vibrating, should produce sounds, and that it 
should always give the same power to the same in- 
struments, in all parts of the world. There is no 
necessity that different kinds of wood and metal, and 
other materials, should give the variety of sound they 
do. In fact, the wonderful powers of all the in- 
struments invented by men, to give sweet sounds, 
are proofs of the provision that has been made in 
the nature of things to gratify that love of music 
implanted in man, simply as a source of enjoyment. 



26o Natural Theology. 

The joy and the sadness which music awakens in 
the soul, Hke the Ught and shade that flit over the 
landscape, show how the emotional nature of man 
is provided for even in the vibrations of the air, by 
which music is produced. The rich, joyous sounds 
of the human voice, so sweet to the ear, the blend- 
ing music of the organ, all waking the deepest emo- 
tions of man, by the power of sound alone, declare 
the provision that has been made in the mechanism 
of the ear, and the waves of the air, and in the pure 
intellect that combines them, for the delight of the 
emotional nature of man. 

But in beauty of outline and of color, the most 
lavish provision has been made for our enjoyment. 
We can never think of the beauty of the evening 
sky as being a matter of chance. The starry con- 
cave seems to have too great power to gratify by 
its beauty, not to be a provision for this purpose ; 
and this we may acknowledge, though we know that 
each star is a sun, and the centre of other systems. 

The varied forms and tints of clouds give ne^v 
scenes of beauty every day. What glories light up 
the morning and evening sky, as the beams of the 
rising or setting sun glance from the piles and lines 
of vapor that fill the upper air ! One who has 
watched the varied beauties of the gilded morning 
and evening clouds in every clime, will acknowledge 
the beauty of the scenes, and the source of enjoy- 
ment which they are to every lover of beauty. We 
cannot regard that constitution of water that gives 
the glories of the clouds their gorgeous play of 



Crystals — Clouds. 261 

light ; and the enchanting beauties of the rainbow, 
painted in the faUing drops, as something neces- 
sary in the nature of things. It is necessary accord- 
ing to the present order of things, but such pro- 
visions, or such relations, are strong evidence that 
this order is the result of a plan. We know not 
why the forms and colors of crystals may not be 
part of the same provision. What sources of delight, 
as objects of beauty, are the crystals into which 
nature forms the minerals and some organic produc- 
tions ! We recognize in this selecting power of 
crystallization, a provision of the highest value to 
man in many respects, and we have already con- 
sidered its relation to pure intellect. We have not 
only the selecting power, but also the beauty of 
form, as exhibited in the primary and secondary 
crystals, as well as the varied tints of all the gems. 
The precious stones are not beautiful on account of 
association merely, but are undoubtedly fitted, in 
and of themselves, to gratify our love of beauty. 

When we come into the organic kingdom, the 
provision is still more striking. The clouds and 
the crystals may be lightly thought of, because they 
are simply exhibitions of the properties of matter 
and of light. But organic beings are on entirely 
different ground. They once had no existence upon 
the globe. Their beauty certainly is nothing fixed 
or necessary. In many cases, no possible use can be 
ascribed to certain forms, and the display of colors, 
except to gratify the love of the beautiful in man. It 
matters not whether we refer to the animal or vege- 



262 Natural Theology. 

table kingdom, for the same design is apparent in both. 
In the vegetable kingdom alone, there is a wealth of 
illustration. There is beauty everywhere, and pro- 
duced in such ways, that it is often apparent that 
it was the sole object in creation, while utility and 
beauty are in other cases conjoined. The beauti- 
fully cut edge of the leaf favors radiation, and is thus 
subservient to the welfare of the plant ; but when 
we consider the varied outline of all the leaves, their 
increase in beauty, by cultivation, and their combi- 
nation in the compound forms, we are delighted 
both by the great variety, and the intrinsic beauty 
of distinct forms, neither of which certainly is neces- 
sary. The same is true of the flower. We know 
what is essential to a perfect flower, that seed may 
be produced. But what human ingenuity could 
have ever devised the numberless patterns of the 
flowers } How is the mind charmed in some of the 
great collections, as at Kew, where royal wealth has 
collected plants from all portions of the world, and 
where, among the thousands of species, or among 
varieties that have been produced, not one can be 
found that has not in it some element of beauty .-* 
If we confine ourselves to the consideration of form 
alone, there is much to delight us, among even our 
common flowers. But when we add to form, the 
matchless coloring, how can man believe that such 
a provision for his enjoyment was made by any 
other than by a Being like himself ; or at least, one 
that understood his constitution, and desired to gra- 
tify his emotional nature ? 



Plants. 263 

Look at the opening lily, as it floats upon the 
waters, and see the beautiful contrast of alabaster 
and gold ! or at the nicely balanced colorings of a 
multitude of our flowers, where the tints are ranged 
in dots, or rings, with such precision as to delight 
us, not only by the rich coloring, but by the artistic 
relation of the colors to each other, and to the form 
of the flower. Who can believe that such beauty 
of form and color serves merely to attract insects ? 

It is among plants, also, that we find that special 
provision for the increase of beauty, as they are 
cultivated, and man becomes capable of appreciating 
beauty for its own sake. We refer to the doubling 
of flowers, like roses, and dahlias, and many others, 
that increase in beauty by this process, until they 
lose all power of producing seed, for which the 
flower seems primarily to be made. But no plant 
ever loses the power of producing seed, unless other 
provision has been made for its propagation ; and 
when an annual thus changes, so that it can no 
longer produce seed, it becomes perennial. The 
whole economy of the plant in such cases seems to 
be arranged with regard to beauty, but with wise 
forethought for the preservation of the species. 
How nicely balanced the forces in the plant must 
be, that while it can produce seed, its course is run 
in a single year, but when the seed-producing power 
is lost by the unrolling of its organs into beautiful 
petals, there is power enough saved by the process 
to carry the plant over, and make its life continuous, 
that it may be propagated from the root. 



264 Natural Theology. 

Another remarkable evidence that this chang- 
ing of flowers to increase their beauty was pro- 
vided for in their creation, is found in the fact that 
those flowers, in which the stamens are large and 
ornamented, so as to make a distinct element 
in the beauty of the flower, seldom, if ever, become 
double. 

In the animal kingdom we have everywhere ap- 
parent the same regard for beauty of outline and 
harmony of color. If there are monsters, it maybe 
partly from association of their form with their na- 
tures, or because they occupy such a place in creation 
that there can be no beauty but that of adaptation. 
But when we have thrown aside all these cases in 
respect to which there might be difference of opin- 
ion, the great mass of animal life speaks of the same 
Divine Artist whose matchless skill has arranged the 
lilies of the field. 

In the field of the microscope there is often a 
display of beauty that is wonderful. Animal and 
vegetable forms too small for the naked eye to dis- 
cern, or if discerned at all, seeming like grains of 
dust, under the power of the magnifying lens, be- 
come perfect marvels in beauty of outline and 
sculpture. We have also the same exhibition of 
beauty and perfection of structure in the minute 
organs of larger forms of animal life. In some of 
our liberally endowed scientific societies we have a 
section of the society given to microscopic research. 
They gather the mud from pools in all parts of the 
earth, the dust that collects upon the sails in long 



The Microscope. 265 

voyages upon the ocean, the ooze brought up by the 
sounding lead from the deep bed of the ocean ; they 
seek in every hidden place for the minute in the 
animal and vegetable kingdom. 

But in all their search, did they ever find one 
mark of imperfection ? As they ply still greater 
and greater power with their improved instruments 
is not the charm which so holds them to their work 
the new beauties which every new specimen reveals 
to them ? In one there is beauty of structure ; in 
another, of outline and sculpture ; in another of 
color ; and in another of adaptation ; so that the mi- 
croscopist dwells in a world of enchantment, a world 
unknown to common men, a world of wonders by 
itself, but a world 3s perfect in all its parts and as 
plainly proclaiming divine wisdom and skill as the 
suns and planets that circle in space. Among all 
these patient observers we have yet to find the first 
one who claims that his microscope has revealed 
anything but perfection. To every object of beauty 
he applies the glass with one expectation — that 
greater beauties will be revealed by its magnifying 
power. In all the works of man, it brings out im- 
perfections ; in all the works of nature increased 
beauty, without a single exception in the whole his- 
tory of microscopic investigation. 

If we advance one step further, we find the radiate 
division of the animal kingdom, the corals, jelly-fishes, 
and star-fish tribe. The coral animals, by their 
beautiful forms and brilliant colors, form gardens in 
the ocean, so beautiful that it is not strange that 

12 



266 Natural Theology. 

poetic fancy should locate in the coral-groves the 
dwelling-place of sea-nymphs, beings too beautiful 
for the upper air. 

And when the gay color of the living coral is 
gone, and nothing but the solid stone-work remains, 
what graceful outlines and delicate sculpture the 
varied forms present ! What human genius could 
devise the multitude of patterns which abound in a 
rich collection of these treasures of the ocean ? The 
branching Madrepore, the domes of Astreas and 
Meandrinas, have each their own element of beauty, 
so that we feel at once that the idea aimed at has 
been reached. We may consider one form more beau- 
tiful than another, but not a single specimen can we 
select which we could improve in its style of beauty 
without changing its plan of structure, and making 
it another species. 

We discover here a grand principle, further illus- 
trated in the shells of the ocean, of which we shall 
by and by speak. While there is beauty in the living 
animals, the solid coral and the shells are to remain 
the permanent objects. The beauty of the animal 
cannot be preserved, as it can be in some of the 
higher forms of life. All beauty is gone in these 
lowest animals when life is gone. But the solid coral 
and the shells are so indestructible, that even the 
coral, which is hidden from sight, while the animal 
lives, is ornamented as though it were intended that 
the solid framework should be the permanent record 
and constant witness of the provision made in nature 
for the love of the beautiful in man. 



Radiate Animals. 267 

Among the jelly-fishes, which are among the most 
evanescent of all beings, there bursts upon us an- 
other group of beautiful forms and colors. Nothing 
can surpass the beauty of a Greenland harbor, on 
some clear summer-day, when the varied species of 
jelly-fish are filling its waters. Their perfect forms 
and delicate tints make them beautiful as gems, 
though so soon to perish. While in the slow-grow- 
ing coral we have its strong framework left to delight 
us, the jelly-fishes, like the annual flowers that beau- 
tify the earth every season, fill the waters with ever- 
recurring riches, for the lover of perfect forms and 
brilliant tints. 

It would take us too long to mention every branch 
and division of the animal kingdom. Nor is there 
need of doing so. But in this lowest tribe, the 
radiates, the element of beauty so completely runs 
through it ; beauty of outline and sculpture, and 
richness and perfection of coloring, both without 
any possible reference to the animals themselves, 
that we are forced to accept it as a provision for the 
love of the beautiful implanted in man. It gratifies 
this element of our emotional nature. It is such a 
provision for our gratification and enjoyment that we 
accept it as the handiwork of a Being who compre- 
hended our nature, and had the desire and the power 
to gratify it. While He cared for the creatures them- 
selves in adapting them to their place in the uni- 
verse, He made them to subserve the higher forms 
of life, and finally to minister to the highest possible 
type, made in His own image. And it is not irre- 



268 Natural Theology. 

verent to suppose that the Creator delights in the 
physical beauty of His own work. 

But this provision will be better understood and 
appreciated in considering the next division of ani- 
mal life — the shells. What fancy can conceive of 
greater beauty, of its kind, than is seen in a cabinet 
of shells .-* The exquisite forms and ornaments, and 
the profusion of richest colors, are arranged for the 
most perfect artistic effect. Each shell among the 
thousands has beauties that no human fancy would 
ever have suggested, had not nature first furnished 
the pattern. The pearly nautilus and the brilliant 
cowrie, in almost endless variation, are there — the 
mother-of-pearl and the silvery pearl itself. Not 
one of these beauties is for the animal itself. The 
brilliant colors invite its enemies and thus favor its 
destruction. Can we see in them any other design 
than a provision for the delight of intelligent 
beings } Is it possible that we can fail to see in 
them design at all t 

Among the insects we have equal exhibitions of 
the same rich artistic skill. Their structure and 
instincts were necessary for their existence, and 
therefore it might be argued that we find the perfect 
combination, because those species alone have sur- 
vived for which ample provision was made. But 
no such reason can be given for the admirable 
balancing of colors, and the elaborate patterns em- 
broidered on the wings of the species that flit from 
flower to flower on a summer's day. The wing 
itself is often a marvel of beauty in its outline, and 



Beauty of Insects. 269 

then the combinations of colors are more varied 
and beautiful than can be found in any work of 
human art ; the colors themselves are absolutely un- 
approachable. The colors alone would not strike us 
as so remarkable, were it not for their distribution 
to produce ornamentation. We are sure here that 
we have the work of nature pure and simple, and 
we are beyond the influence of that" potent principle, 
natural selection, because it is a question of mere 
distribution of color. And when the principle is 
pointed out, we need but visit a collection of insects, 
or recall the fairy forms that have reappeared every 
year upon the flowers, to understand its force. We 
can recall the golden yellow wing, with a line of 
ebon following the wavy outline of the edge — the 
gorgeous blue and red of other species, with silky 
sheen, in rings and spots and lines, — and " beetles 
panoplied in gems and gold." 

We need not multiply examples ; for the same 
exhibitions of beauty meet us from the lowest to 
the highest ranks of the animal kingdom. The 
same idea is secured by means so different that it 
speaks of a great provision for the enjoyment of 
rational creatures. In the coral polyp and jelly-fish 
the color is generally in the animal itself In the 
shell-fish tribe it is made permanent in the shell, 
which is solid as the stone split from the quarry ; 
in the insect tribe, it burnishes the wings of beetles 
and tints the delicate scales upon the wings of the 
lepidoptera. In the vertebrates, it appears in the 
scales of fishes and reptiles ; in the goodly feathers 



2/0 Nattival Theology. 

of the peacocK and the ruby and emerald tints of 
the humming-birds, and thousands of other forms 
that swarm in the tropics. Take the fishes of the 
rivers or of the ocean, the birds and animals of 
higher type, as they come from the hand of nature, 
and wonder at the artistic display of color. It can- 
not possibly, once in a hundred cases, have any 
reference to the enjoyment of the animal. In some 
cases similarity of color to natural objects may pro- 
tect the animal from its foes ; but in the vast majo- 
rity of cases color must be regarded as a gratuitous 
provision having no reference to the animal itself. 
Yet no one who studies it can fail to recognize de- 
sign ; and the only possible design in the harmony 
and balancing of colors, must be the delight of intel- 
ligent beings. 

But just at this point I am reminded that this 
beauty did not begin when man appeared upon the 
earth to admire it. There is the same artistic skill, 
not only in adapting means to ends, but in the 
ornamentation also, among the geologic plants and 
animals, as appears now. We have no doubt there 
is a vastly greater wealth of animal and plant-beauty 
upon the earth now than in any previous geologic 
period. We are not sure of this indeed, but only 
infer it from the kinds that live now compared with 
those that lived then. But whatever tribes ap- 
peared had their beauty, and its traces are left in 
the rocks. We find this beauty of ornamentation 
even among the trilobites of the silurian rocks. 
And in any geological cabinet can be found speci- 



Beauty of Fossils. 271 

mens that were in their time not only beautiful in 
sculpture, but in color. In addition to the elaborate 
finish of the Ammonites, we have seen some in 
which the beauty of the shell remained as perfect 
as in the pearly nautilus just taken from the sea. 

Among the plants there probably was little beauty 
of flower, but the leaf and every part needed for 
those early tribes of plants, was as artistically 
finished as the plants that most delight us by their 
beauty of outline. 

Buckland gives a graphic account of the rich pro- 
fusion of beauty in the petrified plants of the Bohe- 
mian coal-mines. 

" The most elaborate imitations of living foliage 
upon the painted ceilings of Italian palaces, bear no 
comparison with the beauteous profusion of extinct 
vegetable forms, with which the galleries of these 
instructive coal-mines are overhung. The roof is 
covered with a canopy of gorgeous tapestry en- 
riched with festoons of most graceful foliage, flung in 
wild, irregular profusion over every portion of its 
surface. The effect is heightened by the contrast 
of the coal-black color of the plants with the light 
groundwork of the rock to which they are attached. 
The spectator feels himself transported, as if by 
enchantment, into the forests of another world ; he 
beholds trees of form and character now unknown 
upon the surface of the earth, presented to his 
senses almost in the beauty and vigor of their pri- 
meval life ; their scaly stems and bending branches, 
with their delicate apparatus of foliage, are all spread 



2/2 Natural Theology. 

forth before him, little impaired by the lapse of 
countless ages, and bearing faithful records of ex- 
tinct systems of vegetation which began and termi- 
nated in times of which these relics are the infallible 
historians." 

What use of all this beauty when, as yet, there 
was no intelligent being upon the earth ? He that 
fanned the eye^ shall not He see? and He that im- 
planted in man the love of the beautiful, shall He 
not take delight in His own works ? For His pleas- 
ure they are and were created. But considering 
man alone, we have a satisfactory answer. We have 
before shown that in making provision for man's phy- 
sical nature on the earth, his intellectual nature was 
necessarily considered. The highest development 
of man demands that he should study the earth's 
crust. The coal and the metals are hidden there, 
and he must find them. The remains of ancient life 
are his land-marks. The crust of the earth is man's 
possession, and there is the same reason why he 
should find objects of beauty there, as that they 
should be found among living forms. It is pleasant 
to contemplate, these provisions made for man in 
the early earth — provisions prophetic of his exalted 
nature, and of his progress in knowledge. 

In the slight sketch we have been able to make, 
it must be apparent that ample provision has been 
made, in every department of nature, to gratify the 
love of the beautiful. The faculty of appreciating 
has been given, and then special provision has been 
made, in varied form and color, to meet the demands 



Grandeur — Sublimity. 273 

of this faculty, where no other reason can be given 
for their existence. But when we come to consider 
grandeur and subHmity, the case seems somewhat 
different. We can hardly feel that the mountains 
rear their heads that we may wonder at their majes- 
ty ; that the thunder-clouds marshal their forces, 
and the ocean puts on the terrors of the storm, that 
we may witness the grand and sublime. We feel 
that these all are exhibitions of the great forces of 
nature, and that they all have a purpose, irrespective 
of man. But we cannot fail to recognize the design 
of a wise Creator, in implanting in us the faculty of 
comprehending these mighty works, so as to be filled 
with awe and wonder before them. If anything in 
nature brings us near to God, it is the grand and 
terrible. We worship neither the mountain, nor the 
ocean, nor the thunder ; but in their presence the 
boldest atheist sometimes forgets his doubts, and 
stands humbly ready to adore. 

Not only is there this ample provision made for 
the emotional nature, but the history of the race 
shows that this higher nature of man, so nearly 
allied to the moral and religious, was as perfect ages 
ago as now. While science, which depends upon 
long-continued and accumulated observations, could 
come to perfection only in later times, so as to give 
us any adequate conception of what the pure intel- 
lect is capable, this higher emotional nature showed 
its divine origin in the earliest historic times. If 
we want the highest type of poetry, we turn to Ho- 
mer and the Hebrew bards ; if the beautiful in form; 

12* 



274 Natural Theology. 

to the cunning work of the old masters. These 
flashes of the highest powers of man, shining out of 
the darkness of unstable civilizations, and in the 
infancy of physical science, show the fallacy of all 
development theories, when applied to the mind of 
man. As far back as we can go, in poetry, and 
sculpture, and architecture, and philosophy, we have 
evidence of as high type of mental power as can now 
be found in the world. They lacked the method in 
science, and the means of progress, which are the 
aggregate accumulation of centuries, but they lacked 
no element nor degree of power which we possess. 
The fact that men worshipped the grand and terri- 
ble in nature — the mountain, the sun, the fire, and 
the thunder — showed want of knowledge, indeed ; 
but it showed the power of the emotional nature, 
and the potency of natural objects and physical 
forces to call it into action, and thus to arouse 
the moral and religious impulses. 

The last adaptation between nature and the mind 
that we shall notice, is the provision which has been 
made for the different intellectual tastes of men. 
There is similarity of mind enough to be a basis 
for mental philosophy ; but it is apparent that even 
in the same families are found children having a 
fitness for different intellectual pursuits. Without 
this variety of taste and power, advance in science 
and art would be slow, and vastly contracted in its 
range. How small a portion of science, of the fine 
or useful arts, can be mastered by one man ! The 



Variety of Tastes. 275 

most gifted and most accomplished man in the 
world, has only to walk through the streets of any 
city for a single day, to see how small a portion of 
the knowledge possessed by all men he possesses, 
and how small a portion of the works of art he 
would be able to equal. Civilization, as we find it 
to-day, is represented in no one man ; it is the 
aggregate science and art of thousands working in 
different directions. Some men may be turned in 
one direction rather than another, by chance ; but 
progress, nay, the very existence of different depart- 
ments of science and art depends, upon the variety 
in the constitution of the human mind. There is 
not only laid in nature the foundation of science in 
the very constitution of matter and in all its collo- 
cations in organic beings, but provision has been 
made in this variety of the mind, that all these 
sciences should take their place in due time as 
means of human enjoyment. These scientific pos- 
sibilities remain unknown for thousands of years, 
like the coal and oil and other provisions for man's 
physical wants, till progress demands them, and 
then they are reached. Who can tell what sciences 
are yet enfolded within unexplored chambers of the 
physical world, where this busy mind dividing its 
work and increasing its power a thousand-fold by 
its different, distinct lines of action, shall yet pene- 
trate t And when all these explorers return from 
the deep, dark galleries of research, the treasures 
which they bring forth become the property of 
the world, and the whole race, as it were, steps upon 



2/6 Natural Theology. 

a higher plane. There is not only provision made 
for unlimited improvement, both in the constitution 
of nature and the constitution of the human mind 
as a whole, but provision is made for rapid advance, 
and for the special employment and happiness of 
the race, in the variety of taste and power which 
calls them to such different spheres of activity. 



LECTURE XL 

THE MORAL NATURE OF MAN, AND THE BIBLE AS A 
NATURAL PROVISION FOR HIM. 

Decisions of the moral nature. — Chief characteristic of man. 
— Conscie7ice. — Implies accountability. — The existence of a 
moral governor. — Approval of conscience. — Ptiblic opinion. 
— Others suffer from our acts. — Malevolent feelings pro- 
duce unhappiness. — Appetites. — Physical stffering froTn 
sin. — Labor tends to. virtue.- — The world as it is, best for us. 
— This world not enough for fnan^s powers. — His immor- 
tality inferred. — Questions which we need to have answered. 
— The Bible a natural provision. — Adapted to meet the 
wants of man's moral nature. — Answers qziestions which 
nature catinot answer. — Forgiveness of sin. — Immortality 
brotight to light. — With the Bible, man completely pro- 
vided for. 

We have thus far traced the handiwork of a wise 
Designer through the three kingdoms of nature. 
Whatever field we entered, there we found evidence 
of wisdom, skill and power. The ends are wisely 
chosen, the means are skilfully adapted to secure 
each end, and the plans are on a scale of vast mag- 
nitude. When we consider our intellectual powers, 
we are not only conscious of our ability to compre- 
hend these wonderful plans ; but we find all the 
arrangements of matter, having reference to the 
mind of man, fitted to give constant exercise and un- 
limited improvement to his highest mental powers. 



2/8 Natural Theology. 

We find the world also corresponding to the emo- 
tional nature, giving objects of beauty, grandeur, 
and sublimity. We find it as completely fitted to 
the whole intellectual nature of man as it is to his 
physical nature. 

But it is not enough for man that he is able to 
provide for himself food and raiment and shelter, or 
that he can revel in the enjoyment of intellectual 
and emotional exercises ; for above all these he has 
a moral nature. He has a sense of right and wrong, 
and the conscious power of choosing one course of 
action in preference to another for himself He 
says of the acts of his neighbor that they are right 
or wrong, that he is a good or a bad man. He has 
also feelings of merit or demerit in reference to his 
own character, thoughts, and actions. 

We are linked to our fellow-men by ties of in- 
terest or affection, and we have a social nature ; but 
it is in the moral nature that we find the only real 
distinction in kind between man and the lower 
animals. His intellect, emotions, and social nature 
are simply conditional for this higher moral nature ; 
and they in turn are so modified by it that the 
social nature at least is what it is, because man is 
a moral being. 

Let us turn now to this higher nature. And as 
its central power and guide, so far as man can be 
a guide to himself, we recognize conscience, the 
arbiter of right and wrong. We leave to the moral- 
ist the analysis and mutual relations of this and 
other moral and intellectual powers, and deal with 



Conscience. 279 

their acknowledged action and results. Whenever 
our relations to other beings are understood by us, 
conscience demands that we act according to those 
relations. It is a moral instinct to secure uniform 
results in moral relations, as natural instinct works 
among the lower orders of sentient beings. We 
may mistake in our judgment right from wrong, and 
as free moral agents we have power to do violence 
to our conscience ; but conscience never fails to 
demand what the judgment pronounces to be right. 
We thus infer that we were made to do right, be- 
cause all in us that tends to wrong-doing is antago- 
nistic to conscience, and we have the power to obey 
conscience. If, then, we have implanted within us 
a principle that ever demands the right, and con- 
demns the wrong act, and we have given to us the 
power to obey that monitor, we have the highest 
proof that we were created by a moral Being, by one 
who preferred right to wrong, and preferred it to 
such a degree that He gave us in our constitution the 
strongest tendency possible towards the right that 
could be given without taking away our free agency 
or accountability. But because we have in us this 
conscience, and at the same time the ability to 
choose in reference to ends and with a knowledge 
of results, we have strong grounds for inferring that 
we are accountable beings. We infer so, because 
accountability seems needed to complete our rela- 
tions to moral acts. If there were no accountability 
or retribution, the forebodings of conscience would 
be to man what instinct would be to the animal if 



28o Natural Theology, 

there were nothing in nature to meet the demands 
of instinct. 

Conscience is the moral monitor and ruler of man, 
and there is no peace for him but in following its 
commands. It not only brings punishment for 
wrong-doing by its own action, but it does this 
chiefly by a foreboding of other punishment to 
come. The idea of futurity seems ever linked with 
it. It is common to man in all places and in all 
ages. By no other characteristic is the race so 
completely one. It is the voice within all men that 
not only demands the right and forbids the wrong, 
but suggests relations to some Being from whom we 
cannot escape, that can give rewards and inflict 
punishment. It becomes, therefore, the corner- 
stone on which rests our belief in God as our moral 
Governor, and of the immortality of the soul. As 
we infer the being of God from design, and then 
judge of His natural attributes by the variety and 
nature of His works ; as we recognize His power to 
provide, in the constitution of matter and in its col- 
location, for the satisfaction of our intellectual and 
emotional nature ; as we see that He has made us 
with powers and faculties capable of improvement, 
and has laid in the constitution of things a foundation 
for that unlimited improvement by giving us power 
over nature, the faculty of speech and the ability 
to transmit knowledge from one generation to 
another — as in all this we recognize a God having 
like attributes with ourselves, but infinite in degree, 
so in the nature of conscience implanted in man, we 



Moral Nature, 281 

find proof that He regards right and wrong. We 
cannot help referring to our Creator as high attri- 
butes as He has conferred upon us. Not to do so, 
would be to ignore the accepted axiom in moral 
reasoning, that the cause must be equal to the ef- 
fect. If He merely provided for us as intellectual 
and moral beings, He must be of the same nature 
to comprehend our wants, and when we accept the 
truth that we were created by Him, the argument 
certainly is not weakened. From our own consti- 
tution we can find no fitter language in regard to 
His character than the words of Holy Writ : " He 
that planted the ear, shall not he hear, he that 
formed the eye, shall not he see, * * * he that 
teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know V 

Every man has within him constant evidence of 
the existence of a moral nature. It simply remains 
to consider the power of this nature in the indivi- 
dual, and its relations to others. And it is first to 
be observed that the approval of conscience is the 
highest source of enjoyment to man, and the up- 
braidings of conscience are the severest torment 
Sustained by an approving conscience, men have en- 
dured every suffering and submitted to death itself 
Under the upbraidings of conscience, men have be- 
come filled with remorse for the past and forebod- 
ings of the future, till life became a burden, and es- 
cape from torment has been sought for in death 
itself The very moral constitution of man, then, is 
such that happiness comes to him from doing right, 
and suffering from doing wrong. What doubt, then, 



282 Natural Theology. 

of the character of Him who gave that moral con- 
stitution ? 

It is not only true that we have this faculty which 
impels us to the right for its own sake, without any 
reference to the acts or the judgment of others, but 
we are in addition to this affected by the opinion of 
others. We know that they have the same moral 
constitution that we have, by which they decide moral 
questions, and we know that the estimation in which 
we are held by men depends upon their opinion of 
our moral character. We desire to stand well with 
them. There is great support in their approval of 
any course of action, especially if conscience justi- 
fies the course. And there is a sense of shame and 
baseness, when we receive the censure of others 
and are conscious that their condemnation is just. 
Thus it is that public opinion has such great power ; 
a power that few men can long withstand unless 
sustained by an approving conscience. The fact 
that this opinion may be misled by prejudice, and in 
some cases be absolutely wrong, does not alter the 
argument. Men demand what they think is right 
as a general thing, and if they demand what they 
know to be wrong, they may hate and even destroy 
the one who will not yield, but they never can 
despise him ; and when the frenzy of passion has 
passed away, they honor him. We thus find the 
moral constitution such, that our common relation- 
ship to others impels us to right action. 

We are also linked to a portion of the race by 
peculiar ties. There is the relation of parent and 



Appetites and Passions. 283 

child, brother and sister, husband and wife. The 
nature of man is such, that the disgrace of any wrong 
act done by us, attaches itself not to us alone, as 
reason would seem to dictate that it ought, but also 
to those most nearly allied to us, for whom we natu- 
rally have the strongest affection. And our vir- 
tues are the richest reward we can make to parents, 
and the best legacy we can bequeathe to those who 
come after us. We are impelled, then, by the deep- 
est love we have for earthly friends, to pursue a right 
and virtuous course. 

It seems wrong that the innocent should suffer in 
any degree for the sins of others ; but the fact that 
they do suffer, and that those are affected most for 
whom we have the deepest love, shows the strong 
influences that have been brought to bear upon us 
through our most intimate relationships, in favor of 
virtue ; and the certainty that the Being who esta- 
blished these relations, desired virtue in us even more 
than the happiness growing out of these relations. 

No man ever enjoyed himself under the influence 
of hate, jealousy, anger, or any passion that counsels 
evil to his fellow-men. Such passions are in them- 
selves torments, while every sentiment of good-will 
towards men brings happiness by its very exercise. 
Nothing can be plainer than that He who esta- 
blished this relation, desired us to seek the happiness 
of our fellow-men. 

We find in ourselves certain appetites and pas- 
sions. They are needful for us, administering to 
our enjoyment and the good of society when indulg- 



284 Natural Theology. 

ed in with moderation, but bringing disease of body, 
decay of mind, and the degradation of the whole man 
when indulged in to excess. The common obser- 
vation of men has convinced them that avarice, glut- 
tony, drunkenness, and licentiousness, are sources 
of degradation and suffering. They plainly have not 
the approval of "Him who made man. 

There is among men a vast amount of physical 
suffering ; the misery of want, the pains of disease, 
and Death itself, the King of Terrors. The great 
amount of this suffering can be traced directly to 
vice. It not only brings anguish of mind, but it 
often sows the seeds of disease in us, to be transmit- 
ted to our children, to bear in us and in them its 
legitimate fruits — pain and early death. How much 
of the suffering around us from poverty and disease 
can thus be accounted for, and how much more 
might be thus connected with vicious courses of life, 
by going back and searching the history of past 
generations ! 

So far we have considered man's moral, physical, 
and social nature as directly demanding a virtuous 
life of him. They all three work in the same direc- 
tion. But the physical world is also adapted to se- 
cure this. The common wants of life, and the desires 
created by civilization, are constantly demanding 
more labor. Labor is painful, or at least it has such 
an effect upon the system as restrains the man from 
vicious action. It gives health and vigor to the 
body, and yet has a tendency to moderate those ap- 
petites and passions that are so apt to injure and 



Incentives to Virtue. 285 

destroy men by their over-indulgence. When men 
are so situated that they never know what it is to 
labor with mind or body, they are generally found 
walking in that broad road that leads to misery and 
death. An Eden would be fitted for a race that had 
no tendency to over-indulgence and sin. But this 
world as it is, with its thorns and thistles, its blight 
and mildew, its frosts and tempests, its whole ma- 
chinery demanding labor, that man should eat his 
bread by the sweat of his face, is the best possible 
world for us as we are now constituted. A world 
demanding no fatiguing labor is only fitted for per- 
fect beings. 

But it may be asked : Why should man be so 
constituted, that all these relations producing so 
much suffering should be needed to induce him to 
choose virtue instead of vice t The object we have 
in view does not demand of us an answer to this 
question, nor does the place I occupy allow me to 
enter the contested field of theology to give my 
opinion of the origin of sin and suffering in the 
world. They are here. We accept the fact, and 
simply inquire if the constitution of man and of this 
physical universe are such as to encourage men in 
vicious courses or to check them. On this point 
we think nothing can be plainer than that the path 
of virtue is the path of peace. And if we accept all 
these relations as established by a personal Being, 
we can infer nothing with greater certainty than 
that He is actuated by love to man and hatred of 
sin ; that He has so constituted us and the world 



286 Natural Theology. 

as to bring strong inducements to bear upon us to 
live virtuous lives. If we choose vice, His love will 
not save us from suffering, but manifests itself 
rather by scourging us back into paths of rectitude 
and virtue. 

But when we have seen how little man can accom- 
plish in this world, even when bending all his ener- 
gies of body and mind in the direction of virtue and 
truth, we are struck with the small results reached 
by him compared with his abilities and desires. He 
evidently has the capacity for unlimited improve- 
ment, and the desire for it, but time is wanting. All 
other orders of beings on this globe complete the 
cycle of their existence, and rise as high as they are 
fitted to rise. But man is in this respect a failure, the 
machinery is out of joint, or rather if this world is 
his only home, it never was properly adjusted. There 
is no possibility of his rising so high in this world 
as to satisfy the conditions of his intellectual being. 
His life, when longest, is but a summer s day for 
labor ; while broad harvest fields wave before him 
that he feels conscious of the power of gathering, if 
life were longer. He can comprehend the possibi- 
lity of another life. He feels conscious of power to 
improve it and enjoy it for ever. He longs for it, 
and shudders at the prospect of oblivion. Shall he, 
of all created beings, be debarred from using the 
powers with which he has been endowed .-* Shall 
no opportunity be given him for the development of 
those powers t Shall he alone have desires to 
which there is nothing to correspond, so that it 



Future Life. 287 

is impossible that they shall ever be satisfied ? Is 
his whole constitution a cheat ? Shall every other 
part of nature show the Creator's love to man, by 
the provisions that are made for his wants, but here 
in his highest aspirations and interests, shall he be 
mocked with delusions ? We cannot believe this. 
It is contrary to the whole analogy of nature, con- 
trary to every work of the Creator which we have 
thus far studied. If there is a Creator of inaft, who is 
a lover of truth, then man must be immortal. There 
must be a conscious existence for him after this life. 
Nor can we see how the time ever can come when 
it will be more in accordance with his nature for 
consciousness to cease than it is now. Grant a 
future life, and the great enigma of the present life 
is solved ; man stands complete, the last and noblest 
work of God. 

We have now traced the hand of a Creator in all 
His works. We have not only seen evidence of pow- 
er, wisdom, and skill, in the relations of the physical 
world, but we have seen that all the powers of man 
are wisely balanced. His intellectual and moral 
natures have great provisions made for them, and 
still greater provisions are reasonably inferred to be 
in store for him. In this whole investigation we 
have recognized a Being having all the higher attri- 
butes of man, but above him in excellence and con- 
dition of existence. If this Being were now to 
throw aside the invisible form of existence and ap- 
pear as man, as a friend among us, what are some 
of the questions that we should wish to ask ? If He 



288 ■ Natural Theology. 

has spoken to man at all, these very questions that 
we need to ask respecting our higher relations and 
interests, are the questions He has answered. 

We should desire to know more than we can learn 
from the world itself, of its origin and of the creation 
of- man. We should desire to know in what relation 
we now stand to the Creator, and what He requires 
of us in return for the benefits we are receiving at 
His hand. Above all, we should wish to know some- 
thing more of the future ; something of what lies 
beyond the grave. All these inquiries are answered 
in the Bible, which comes to us claiming to be the 
Word of God.' It is not our design to enter into 
any extended argument to prove the inspiration of 
this book, but briefly to show that it meets the re- 
quirements of man's nature, and thus has a claim 
founded on the argument from design and adapta- 
tion, to be considered the work of God. Although 
it claims that it was given to man by supernatural 
power, as the first fruits of the earth were also pre- 
pared for him, the Bible is a natural provision for 
man's moral nature, as the fruits of the earth are a 
natural provision for his physical wants. 

Let us then trace the actual coincidence of the 
moral instincts and desires of man with the moral 
law and the teachings of the Bible. God is set forth 
in the Bible not only as a Creator, but as our con- 
stant Preserver, Benefactor, and moral Governor; or 
as blending all these characters in one, our Father 
in Heaven. We are assured that in His hand our 
breath is, and His are all our ways ; that even the 



The Bible. 289 

very hairs of our heads are all numbered. This 
ever-present care is foreshadowed by those all-per- 
vading forces that affect all matter, like gravitation 
that binds suns and systems in their place, and from 
which the floating dust in the sunbeam cannot escape. 
This assurance of constant care meets a want in our 
nature. It is such care as we should expect from 
a benevolent Being of infinite power over the help- 
less beings that He had made in His own image. 
It therefore commends itself to our reason. We 
may for a time forget our weakness ; but in danger, 
when the elements are abroad in their fury, or when 
disease has fastened upon the system, then it is we feel 
our need ; then we desire and ask for the very care, 
protection, and support, which the Bible promises. 

It recognizes the need of the human soul of sup- 
port from without itself, and it promises the favor 
and protection of God himself to all who will seek it. 

It comes to us not only with a Father s promises 
which satisfy the longings of our hearts, but it lays 
His commands upon us. This is reasonable. It is 
in accordance with the whole analogy of nature and 
all our relations to our fellow-men, that where bene- 
fits are conferred there should be corresponding 
obligations resting upon those receiving the favors. 
And we are not to judge of these commands thus 
laid upon us, that they are or are not adapted to our 
nature, by our desire or want of desire to obey them, 
but by their fitness to secure our highest good if 
obeyed. And experience teaches us that as all 
malevolent passions are torments, so all benevolent 

13 



290 ■ Natural Theology. 

affections are sources of pleasure in their very 
exercise. Love is not only the foundation of the 
moral law of the Bible, but it is the fulfilling of the 
law. There is no malevolent feeling approved of in 
the Bible. The moral law, then, not only secures 
the happiness of men by the acts it enjoins in re- 
ference to each other, but it brings happiness by 
the very act of obeying. How impossible to con- 
ceive of any more perfect adaptation ! What is the 
adaptation of the air to the lung, of the order and 
beauty of the world to the intellectual and emotional 
nature of man, compared with this adaptation of 
the moral law to his moral nature, in consequence 
of which the very act of obedience secures to him 
never-failing enjoyment and ever-increasing strength ! 
What higher evidence of design ! 

In its special commands we find the same adapta- 
tion to the welfare of the race. In the reverence 
for the aged and to rulers, in obedience to law, in 
kindness to the unfortunate, we have those prin- 
ciples which would promote the welfare and happi- 
ness of individuals and communities. 

Civilization is the natural and highest state of 
society ; and it is only by following the precepts of 
the Bible, in private and public action, that a real 
civilization can be secured and maintained. There 
may come to be for a time a high degree of polish 
and culture without the recognition of these pre- 
cepts, but it will be only a sudden glare of light. 
Such a civilization will be cruel, and contain within 
itself the elements of its own destruction. 



The Bible. 291 

Nor does the Bible show its adaptation to the 
nature of man only in what it demands. It is 
equally apparent in what it forbids. The Bible lays 
no prohibition upon man that will diminish his en- 
joyment. Its word of warning is never heard except 
as we are ready to enter those paths that are sure 
to lead to ruin if we follow them to the end. Their 
entrance may be bordered with flowers and promise 
every sensual gratification, and the simple may enter 
in with songs and laughter ; but those who have 
learned the history of the past and have moral 
power to restrain themselves, never enter them. 
When they seek their highest good in the light of 
history and their own constitution, they are found 
walking according to the precepts of the Bible. In 
it every evil passion, every debasing desire, is de- 
nounced. It stands and utters its warning voice 
against intemperance, licentiousness, avarice, and 
injustice. It declares that those who take pleasure 
in them shall in the end find sorrow. The expe- 
rience of thousands has been sad evidence of the 
truth of its declarations. It is venerable with the 
age of centuries, but it is no more obsolete nor 
wanting in its adaptations to man now than the 
light of day is to the eye, or water to the thirsty 
soul. It goes on filling its place in supplying the 
wants of man, like all the great provisions that have 
been made for him in nature. 

Thus far we have found in the Bible only what is 
intimated in nature. The written word speaks, in- 
deed, with an explicitness that we search for in vain 



292 Natural Theology. 

among mere contrivances and tendencies. But we 
should naturally expect that such a book would not 
only make clearer the revelations of nature, but that 
it would also give some knowledge that nature does 
not reveal at all. We should expect it, because 
man's nature demands an answer to some questions 
to which no satisfactory answer can be found in na- 
ture. As we rise from the natural to the spiritual 
world, we should expect that there would be some 
exceptions to the ordinary laws of nature, or more 
strictly that new laws would be discovered distinct 
in kind from anything in the physical world, as we 
find the vital force presenting phenomena very dif- 
ferent if not antagonistic to gravitation and other 
physical forces. 

One question of vast importance to the happiness 
of man is this : — Can sin be forgiven t If left to 
the light of nature alone, I know not where to look 
for an affirmative answer. A remedy for the effects 
of sin may be intimated by the healing leaves and 
balsams ; but that sin can be forgiven through re- 
pentance, finds no parallel in any of our relations 
to nature. We might argue from our own constitu- 
tion, that our Creator would on some conditions blot 
out our sins as we forgive others. But we never could 
be sure of this ; and if we accepted it as true, the 
conditions of His forgiveness no one could with cer- 
tainty discover. We can find nothing to favor for- 
giveness of sin in all the physical universe. All its 
laws answer, No ! They are inexorable. The fire 
burns, and the cold seals up the fountains of life. 



Forgiveitess of Sin. 293 

He who leaps from the precipice must fall ; he who 
transgresses the laws of health must pay the 
penalty, and no repentance will change the result. 
Is this stern law of strict penalty to hold dominion 
over man as a moral being ? When he has sinned, 
must he carry the burden for ever ? Must he be 
goaded by the stings of conscience, and his relations 
to his Creator be so changed that he must ever re- 
main a guilty being in his presence ? Must he be 
drawn down by every sin for ever, as gravitation 
brings bodies towards the centre ? If so, the world 
would be gloomy indeed, and deep despair would 
settle down upon the most thoughtful of the race. 
But the Bible plainly proclaims forgiveness on the 
condition of repentance. 

Repentance is not only enjoined as a duty, but for- 
giveness of sin and acceptance with God are declar- 
ed to be the result. It is not our province to enter 
upon any defence of Christianity, nor to present any 
technical theological explanations as to the nature 
of this repentance, nor the ground on which free for- 
giveness is offered in the Bible. We simply accept 
the declaration that man may be forgiven and the 
penalty of the broken law escaped. We do not now 
inquire for methods, but for results. And this great 
truth of forgiveness of sin through repentance meets 
one of the deepest wants of man's nature. It puts 
the key into his own hand to open his prison door, 
and gives hope and courage instead of settled gloom 
and despair. 

The last great truth in respect to which man 



294 Natural Theology. 

needs light from a written word, is the immortaUty 
of the soul. We have already seen from the consti- 
tution of man that immortality is needed to make 
him correspond in completeness to other created 
beings. But when from the light of nature we are 
led to admit the fact of immortality, how vague must 
be all our conclusions respecting a world which the 
body does not enter ! " It is a dread unknown," 
from which we shrink almost as much as from anni- 
hilation. Besides all this, belief in a future life, so 
essential to the highest well-being of this life, could 
never exist with any definiteness among the mass 
of mankind if left to the light of nature. It needed 
the Bible to bring life and immortality to light. It 
was needed that the dead should be raised, and that 
our Saviour himself should rise from the tomb, to 
make immortality anything more than a grand phi- 
losophical speculation. The future life as presented 
in the Bible, is all that can be desired to satisfy the 
wants of the whole being. The power of language 
is exhausted in describing the blessings of that state 
which all may enjoy. 

We have then in the Bible a guide of life which 
the experience of all past ages has proved to be 
the best for the progress and happiness of the 
race. The wisdom of the present can devise 
nothing better. We have in it a plain statement 
of our present relations to our Creator. We have 
not only the assurance of a future life, but its 
conditions are so fully set forth, that nothing 
more can be added to influence the present life, 



Conclusion. 295 

or satisfy the highest aspirations of the human 
soul. 

In the Bible the spiritual nature of man finds that 
perfect adaptation, which the physical nature finds 
in the world. And if there is found in man anything 
that rebels against the Bible, it never fails to tend 
to degradation. So that in every respect, when men 
follow the Bible and when they reject it, there is 
proof that it is fitted for man ; that there is no sub- 
stitute for it. With its truths, he is complete ; with- 
out them, he is an unsolved enigma, a being groping 
his way in blindness, he knows not whither. He 
is in a prison of doubt, and there in darkness he 
must remain ; for not even the wisest of men can, 
without the Bible, solve the questions which his 
spiritual nature suggests. If there is in the whole 
range of nature a case of adaptation more varied and 
complete than the Bible to the wants of man, we 
know not where to look for it. We accept it as the 
grand provision, worthy of the being for whom it 
was made, worthy of the infinite Creator by whom 
it was bestowed. 



LECTURE XII. 

THE MOSAIC AND GEOLOGIC RECORDS. 

Natural religion not sufficient. — Supposed origin of the Bible, 
— Correspondence to the works of nature. — Seeming disa- 
gree7nent. — First chapter of Genesis. — Testimony of Hu7n- 
boldt. — Purpose of the Bible demands some account of the 
creation. — The position takeji in the argument. — Chemistry 
our guide before the sedijnentary rocks. — Progress in crea- 
tion.— First condition of matter. — Gravitation.— Effect of 
bringing particles together. — Light. — Nott and Gliddon. — 
Geologic day. — Hugh Miller'' s view. — Firma7nent. — Office 
of the atmosphere. — Dry land. — Introduction of life.— Plants 
created first. — Sun and Moon. — Water animals and birds. 
— Land aniinals. — Man. — Picture of creation as presented 
to an intelligent being. — Seventh day. — Conclusion. 

We have now considered the Bible as a provision 
made to meet certain wants of man, growing out of 
desires and capacities implanted in him. In this 
respect it is such a provision as we might expect, 
from the whole analogy of nature, would be made. 
By accepting the Bible, we round out and complete 
the argument from design, as shown by adaptation 
of means to ends. Without the Bible, man, in the 
desires of his highest nature, would be like a being 
created with the torment of thirst, in a world desti- 
tute of water ; or with a perfect eye, in a world of 
eternal darkness ; or with the desire to breathe, 
where no air ever existed. 



Revelation. 297 

The defenders of natural religion cannot stop 
when they reach the Bible. It is only when this 
keystone is in its place, that the arch of argument 
will stand. Natural religion can never supersede a 
written Revelation. Nature simply assures us that 
there is a God, and that He has established certain 
relations for us. It then leaves us in doubt in 
regard to the consequences of our relationship to 
Him. So far from taking the place of Revela- 
tion, Natural Theology, when rightly studied, impels 
the soul to cry out for the living God ; to desire 
to hear the Word of Him whose handiwork is 
seen in the heavens, and in the machinery and 
adorning of our earth. It prepares men to expect 
Revelation. And as men advance in civilization 
and science, the Bible becomes more and more 
necessary. 

But it may be said that this Bible is the work of 
man, and it meets his wants because it has grown 
out of his wants. These desires and capacities, 
of which men are conscious, have led them to 
wander in the field of imagination to find conditions 
to meet the wants of their spiritual nature. And 
these conditions are embodied in the God of the 
Bible, and the future world which it reveals. 
Men with different desires would have a different 
Revelation, and thus it happens that the Bible is 
only one of the Sacred Books that have been ac- 
cepted by men. 

The Bible is thus presented as the work of dream- 
ing enthusiasts, who have given the outgrowth of 

13* 



298 Natural Theology. 

their own yearnings as the revelation of things that 
do exist. There are various arguments against this 
view, which belong strictly to the theologian ; but 
there is one argument against it which fairly belongs 
to natural religion. It is the actual correspondence 
of the Bible with the works of nature. In this re- 
spect it is peculiar. Written in an early age, by a 
people little versed in the natural sciences, it chal- 
lenges criticism in this respect. As morals and poli- 
tics have never gone beyond the principles laid down 
in the Bible, so science has found nothing here con- 
trary to its teachings. All seeming collision, and all 
fear of collision, have arisen from an ignorance of 
nature, or that narrow view of Bible exegesis which 
is constantly transferring something of the reverence 
which is natural for the Bible, to the old commenta- 
tors, who have explained the Bible. To show the 
actual correspondence of the Bible with the works 
of nature, no better portion can be selected than 
the first chapter of Genesis ; for there alone are the 
operations of nature made the object of special reve- 
lation. If any portion of the Bible presents claims 
to be inspired, it is certainly this portion ; for it 
claims to record events that transpired before man 
was created. 

In other places, nature is referred to only for 
illustration, and hence the common usage of speak- 
ing of things simply as they appear must be ex- 
pected. But when the Bible proposes to give a 
history of the creation, it must ultimately stand or 
fall by that record. It will survive all the mistakes 



Nature and the Bible. 299 

made in exegesis ; but if ever the time comes when 
it is plainly convicted of error here, its infallibility 
is gone. But it is not enough for the sceptic to 
overturn any attempted harmony of nature with the 
Bible ; he must show that there is an actual contra- 
diction between them. And we are not disposed 
to take refuge in pictorial representations and alle- 
gories, to escape the danger of his criticism. If 
the first chapter of Genesis can be explained away 
into an airy nothing, the same may be true of the 
rest of the Bible. If the Bible is what it claims to 
be, we believe that a real correspondence will be 
found between its description of creation and the 
structure of the earth — as perfect a correspondence 
as the laws of language and the object in view 
would allow. It is not important here to discuss 
the date of the Hebrew Scriptures. We have no 
doubt Moses was the author of the Pentateuch ; but 
if it were written at a later day, even as some self- 
confident critics affirm as late as the time of David, 
there would be no explanation given how such a 
Book could have been written by the men of that 
time. We look in vain, among the surrounding 
nations, for evidence of the exalted notions of God 
and the creation which are found in every portion 
of the Bible. 

We are to remember that this Book is not the pro- 
duct of one man, nor of one school of philosophers. 
It is the collected writings of ages — of men in the 
highest and lowest stations of life — of those versed 
in the sciences of their times, and those among the 



300 Natural Theology. 

unlearned and ignorant. But in not a single book 
of the Bible can be found any expression that can 
be reasonably tortured into antagonism to that high 
and pure Monotheism which the highest philosophy 
must accept, nor against the revelations of science 
in the physical world. References to science are 
never introduced in the Bible for their own sake ; 
but whenever introduced, if fairly tested by the laws 
of language, they meet the requirements of every 
science as fully as any book written at the present 
time for the same purpose would meet the require- 
ments of any science. 

If we take the books not strictly scientific, written 
by the most learned men within the last ten years, 
by men conversant with the sciences, their illustra- 
tions and references to nature are no more in accord- 
ance with science than the Hebrew Scriptures. 
The grand and clear conceptions of the universe 
which they present, have been acknowledged even 
by Humboldt, who was certainly as competent as 
any man that ever lived to appreciate the accuracy 
and significance of the language in describing the 
physical creation. Nor can he be charged with any 
undue desire to magnify the Bible, or to substantiate 
its claims. " It is," says he, " a characteristic of 
the poetry of the Hebrews, that as a reflex of Mo- 
notheism, it always embraces the universe in its 
unity, comprising both terrestrial life and the lumi- 
nous realms of space ; it dwells but rarely on the 
individuality of phenomena, preferring the contem- 
plation of great masses. The Hebrew poet does 



Testimony of Humboldt. 301 

not depict nature as a self-dependent object, glo- 
rious in its individual beauty, but always as in rela- 
tion or subjection to a higher spiritual power. Na- 
ture is to him a work of creation, and order the 
living expression of the omnipresence of the Divi- 
nity in the visible world." 

And in reference to the one hundred and fourth 
Psalm, he holds this remarkable language : " We are 
astonished to find in a lyrical poem of such limited 
compass, the whole universe — the heavens and the 
earth — sketched with a few bold touches." This is 
the testimony of him who had seen more of nature 
than any other man that ever lived ; had looked 
upon the heavens and the earth with a scientific 
eye, gathering those grand principles which he has 
woven into his great work, the Cosmos. And with 
all his knowledge gathered by travel, from books 
and with converse with the savaiis of his age, he 
acknowledges his inability to equal the Hebrew poet 
in delineating the universe. He is astonished at 
the accuracy with which the whole subject is set 
forth by the Hebrew bard in the dark ages of the 
world's scientific history. After such testimony, it 
is no unfair claim to make, that those, who flippantly 
talk of the Bible as being in whole or in part obso- 
lete and contradictory to the modern revelations of 
science, shall show us some tangible proof of their 
assertions that shall at least offset the testimony of 
the author of the Cosmos. 

The whole Bible being written confessedly for the 
moral instruction of the race, we expect to find in it 



302 Natural Theology. 

only so much of nature as its purpose demands. That 
purpose certainly demands some account of the pre- 
sent order of things. All that could be required of 
such an account would be that it should be sufficiently 
explicit to answer its purpose of assuring the race 
that the world was created by God, who still con- 
tinues to rule it, and that its bold touches should 
be so truthful that the revelations of science should 
in the end harmonize with them. No such account 
can be held responsible for the opinions or mistakes 
of those who have attempted to explain it. Most 
of the Christian world believe that the coming of 
the Messiah was foretold by the prophets, and that 
his character was perfectly sketched by them ; but 
the whole Jewish nation, to this day, while accept- 
ing the Old Testament, regard Jesus of Nazareth 
as an impostor, and are still looking for a Messiah 
whose character shall harmonize with the Scriptures. 
While there is such a diversity of opinion in regard 
to the character of Christ compared with the pro- 
phecies respecting the Messiah, it is not strange 
that there should be difference of belief in regard 
to the correspondence of the Bible and the structure 
of the earth. We doubt very much whether any 
man has science enough to trace out the corre- 
spondence fully, even to the satisfaction of his own 
mind. But on the other hand, we are quite as sure 
of the statement which we tried to substantiate in 
the early part of this course, that the account of the 
creation of organic beings given in Genesis, is as 
probable, viewed from a scientific stand-point, as any 



Early History of the Earth. 303 

theory of creation that has ever been broached. 
Now, as to the second question, whether that whole 
account really accords with the revelations of geo- 
logy, we answer that we believe its correspondence 
is such that if we cannot in every instance be sure 
we are right, we can challenge opposers to show a 
want of agreement. On this point, in the present 
state of science, we choose to take the position 
assumed by Butler in his Analogy, respecting the 
immortality of the soul ; that the contrary cannot 
be shown. Having made these explanations, and 
wishing to be distinctly understood as disclaiming 
all pretence of absolute certainty, we proceed to 
show what seems to be a reasonable correspondence 
of the Bible account of creation with the revelations 
of science. The ground has been traversed by able 
men, and in such investigations we gladly borrow 
from them all the light they can shed upon our 
pathway. * 

There was a long history to our globe before any 
permanent records were left in the sedimentary 
rocks. When we have gone back to the first forms 
of life that appeared upon the globe, and to the deep 
rocks below them, we look off into what has been 
regarded by Hugh Miller and some other geologists 
as a dark unknown. It is by the light of chemistry 
alone that we can thread our way back beyond the 
positive record of geologic formations. And we be- 

* It is proper to state that this lecture was prepared twelve years ago, essentially 
as it now stands. It is impossible in a single lecture to give a full discussion of the 
subject or to quote from authors. Those who would fully understand the present 
state of the discussion, should read Hugh Miller, Dana, Lewis, and Dawson. 



304 Natural Theology. 

lieve, that a knowledge of chemistry and the physi- 
cal forces of matter will guide us as safely here, as 
the remains of animals and plants do in unfolding 
the later history of the globe. 

" In the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth;'' — a grand, sublime announcement — which 
is borne out by the evidence of wisdom and skill in 
all organic beings, in the structure of the globe and 
the constitution of matter itself It is the very sen- 
tence we should select to embody the results of all 
the investigations presented in this series of lec- 
tures. 

But the writer does not leave the account here. 
The omnipotent God of the Jews might well be re- 
presented as speaking the world into existence in a 
moment. But instead of this, the lapse of time, 
the succession of days and progress in creation 
from lower to higher forms of life, are all asserted. 
Changes are described as occurring before life was 
introduced, and then life rises to higher and higher 
forms till man appears. And to this all science 
agrees. It is not to this grand outline that objection 
is made, but to specific things, which we will notice 
in their proper place. 

The second verse describes the earliest condition 
of the earth. 

" Ajid the earth was without form a7id void, and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep!' 

It seems as though every chemist must believe 
that there was a time when the materials of our 
earth, and probably of the solar system, floated in 



Light. 305 

space in a gaseous form. If so, no language 
could better describe the condition : 

" Emptiness and desolation " — " Without form and 
void." 

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters, or fluids, which would represent all the 
materials of which the globe would ultimately be 
formed. God is represented as acting directly, be- 
cause the forces are only his method of action. Now 
every scientific man knows, that if the materials 
existed in a gaseous form according to the theory 
of Laplace, the first force called into action would 
be gravitation — that force that binds planets in their 
orbits, and from which the invisible atom cannot 
escape. The rushing together of these elements 
under the action of this force, which gives the earth 
its form, might well be called the moving of the 
Spirit of God. If God is the Creator of the earth 
and the controller of all its changes, no language 
could be better chosen to represent movements pro- 
duced by this force, which must necessarily have 
been the first called into action to bring the parti- 
cles together. For it is gravitation alone that acts 
upon all matter and at all distances. 

Now when this force was brought into action, 
we look into the nature of matter by the light of 
chemistry to see what results would follow. And 
when we have transcribed the words of Moses, we 
have the exact result which the latest revelations 
of science show must have followed. 

" And God said, Let there be light ; and there was 



3o6 Natural Theology. 

lightr Light is not spoken of as something created, 
but as a result. 

When the materials of which this globe is com- 
posed were brought together by gravitation, the 
simple condensation and chemical action both com- 
bined to produce light and heat The rocks and 
waters of the globe are the result of combustion. 
We have seen the compound blow-pipe in which 
iron burns like straw, and platinum vanishes in 
vapor. That flame is simply the union of oxygen 
with hydrogen when only enough combines to form 
a few drops of water. Who can conceive of the 
heat produced when the waters that fill the ocean 
were formed } We have seen the light when the 
fine wire of irqn or steel or magnesium is burned ; 
how must the very heavens have been filled with 
light when the materials of which all our rocks were 
formed were burning ! We think of the waters and 
rocks as incombustible, but we must constantly 
remember that they are the products of combustion ; 
and all we have to do is to decompose them and 
bring the elements together again, to have that in- 
tense combustion on a small scale which lighted up 
primeval darkness, when the mighty mass of ele- 
ments that compose this globe was brought into 
action. For ages the earth must have remained a 
blazing gaseous globe. It may be said this is theory ; 
but it is a theory that rests upon a most substantial 
basis, the chemical nature of the water and the 
rocks of the earth. We only state what we believe 
to be the necessary result of bringing the materials 



Days of Creation. 307 

of the globe together. It is what we should believe 
if the Bible had never been written. 

And here we notice the criticism of that once 
famous book, Nott and Gliddon's " Types of Man- 
kind," that Moses made a sad blunder when he re- 
presented light as being created three whole days 
before the sun and moon were ordained to give 
light upon the earth. The very thing which they 
refer to as a blunder, will stand while chemical 
science remains, showing either that Moses was 
inspired, or that he was in science far in advance 
of the authors of the " Types of Mankind." 

If the earth were thus formed, it must have been 
ages before any essential change occurred, or at 
least a change so great as to be reckoned a new 
order of things. 

And this period we regard as a geologic day. No 
better language could have been used to describe 
the beginning and close of such a period. It was in 
the great movements of God's work, what the day 
is in the work of man, and therefore "j/o;/^," was the 
best word that could be used ; and no modern critic 
that I know of, even of the most orthodox school, 
now contends that ^^ yoin " means simply twenty-four 
hours. It may mean that, and it may stand for any 
length of time. We have only to pass to the second 
chapter to see that Moses uses the same word to 
embrace the entire time which he had before de- 
scribed as constituting six yoms. " These are the gene- 
rations of the heavens and the earth when they were 
created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth 



3o8 Natural Theology. 

and the heavens!' There are also other meanings 
of the word day. 

In the fifth verse of the first chapter it is also 
said : " God called the light, day." 

Here it is sirnply a name, as God named all the 
works as they were finished. 

Since then we find Moses using the word yoni in 
the second chapter in such a way that all must agree 
it means a long period ; and since the best critics on 
both sides of the question acknowledge that yom is 
not necessarily a period of twenty-four hours, we 
cannot see that we do any violence to the principles 
of sound exegesis when we adopt that meaning 
which harmonizes with the revelations of the 
earth. 

In addition to this, we may say that Hugh Mil- 
ler's view seems sound in his whole treatment of 
the three days which he has attempted to account 
for. We think a legitimate use of the word day is 
in reference to the time when any order of things so 
took the lead as to constitute a distinct epoch. We 
use it now in the same way. Washington's day was 
when he was exerting his influence in the armies 
and councils of the nation. And so in the changes 
in the earth's geologic history. They may have 
been going on together, but the day of each creation 
was when its activity rose above that of all others, 
having, as it were, possession of the globe. And 
these great epochs are properly spoken of by Moses 
as days. They began and they closed, and he ap- 
plies the usual Jewish method of describing the be- 



Geologic Changes. 309 

ginning and close of the natural day, "eve7ting" and 
" mor7img ;'' and these terms do not seem in any 
respect to limit or explain the word " day." 

But it is to be borne in mind that Moses speaks 
of three days, before he represents the sun as taking 
his place in the heavens to divide the day from the 
night. From which it seems almost self-evident 
that an ordinary day could not possibly be meant by 
him. 

It is plain that chemistry is the only science that 
can possibly guide us in unravelling the first day's 
work of creation, the production of light ; and it is 
by the same science mainly that we are to trace the 
changes still further, until we find in the sediment- 
ary rocks evidence of the mechanical action of water. 
And what would be the changes which must have 
occurred after the mingling and union of the ele- 
ments which we have described as the first epoch 
or day of creation } 

We know well what changes must have occurred, 
if the laws of matter were the same then as now. 
As heat was radiated from the glowing earth into 
space, the whole mass was gradually cooled, until 
the materials of which the rocks are composed be- 
came simply a melted ball ; the air, the waters of 
the earth, and all volatile substances, still forming a 
dense cloud around its whole surface. Still later a 
crust was formed upon this globe by cooling, and 
waters were condensed upon it, covering the entire 
globe. For continents and mountains were impos- 
sible till the crust in after ages became thick enough 



3IO Natural Theology. 

to hold its place when thrown up. For countless 
ages that crust must have thickened beneath the 
waters that grew deeper and deeper as the lower 
temperature of the globe allowed more and more to 
be condensed from the air, until the atmosphere, 
with a perfect ocean beneath and dense clouds 
above, took its place as a divider of the waters 
which it holds to-day. Thus by the natural change 
of the globe was produced the condensation and 
separation of the mingled elements, until the two 
permanent gases which were prepared to consti- 
tute the atmosphere were left mainly free, and had 
gained their proper place, and had commenced one 
of their great offices in the machinery of creation. 

How now do the words of the Bible correspond 
with this description which we have made, guided 
by the known laws of nature .-^ 

" A}id God said, Let there be a firma^nent ifi the 
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters fivm 
the waters!' 

The word translated firmament means simply ex- 
panse, anything that is spread out. And the criti- 
cism that has been made that Moses taught that 
there was a solid sphere above us, has no foun- 
dation in the Holy Scriptures. That doctrine be- 
longs to a later day, if not to a heathen philosophy. 

The great office of this firmament is to-day what 
it was when first separated from the condensing ele- 
ments. It is the great water-bearer. From the 
waters beneath go up the unseen streams, till in 
the colder upper regions they condense in clouds 



The Firmament 311 

and pour down their treasures upon the earth. All 
the springs and rivers are pouring back into the 
ocean the mighty tide which this firmament has 
separated from the waters beneath, and poured down 
as from open windows in the heavens. Were it not 
for this office of the atmosphere the earth would be 
a desert. And all the vast accumulations of sedi- 
mentary rocks over the whol^ globe are evidence of 
the work it has done in dividing and transporting 
the waters, through all geologic ages. This was its 
first appointed work, to divide the waters from the 
waters, and thus to prepare the globe for man. 
And we have in the lowest stratified rocks evidence 
of its work before any life appeared upon the earth. 

And when now the swift thunder-cloud pours 
down its deluge, or the wide-spread storm-cloud 
pours down, day after day, its torrents, until the 
swollen rivers cannot contain the abundance, it is 
the firmament established of old, that divides the 
waters beneath from the waters above. 

When ages have rolled away, the earth covered 
with the ocean, and far above with a thick canopy 
of cloud, the crust becomes thick enough to keep 
its place, when lifted by forces beneath, or by the 
contraction of the cooling mass within. Now it is 
possible for dry land to appear ; not only possible, 
but the necessary result of the continued cooling of 
the earth. 

" And God said, Let the waters under the heaven 
be gathered together into one place ^ and let the dry 
la7td appear, and it was so^ 



312 Natural Theology. 

We need not add a single word. It seems impos- 
sible that any chemist and geologist can be found, 
who fails to see the grand simplicity and accuracy 
of this record, as corresponding with those ages in 
the history of our earth that pass before him as his 
sciences unravel the mystery of the rocks. He 
sees, indeed, the result produced by what are called 
the forces of matter, *while the Hebrew law-giver 
keeps ever before us the personal Creator. 

The globe is now prepared for life. Its tempera- 
ture is reduced, and the pillars of the earth have 
been set. No lofty mountains are yet possible, but 
land just above the waters. 

Up to this point, all changes could be produced 
by the known forces of matter ; but for the introduc- 
tion of life upon the globe, we have no possible ac- 
count to give, except that it was done by creative 
power. A new principle was joined to matter. 
Let us inquire what can be learned from Geology 
of the introduction of life. First, we infer that 
plants were created before animals, because all ani- 
mals depend upon them directly or indirectly for 
food. We judge that many existed of which we 
have no direct knowledge, the evidence of their 
existence having been blotted out, unless it be found 
in veins of plumbago in the early rocks. But it is 
well settled that the earliest plants of which we find 
any remains were of the lowest type — the flowerless 
plants, algae, ferns, and the like. The most abun- 
dant vegetation was in the coal period, when those 
vast accumulations were stored away for our use. 



Creation of Plants, 313 

After that, higher types of plant life appear, those 
with flowers and seeds ; and at last, at the time or 
near the time of the introduction of man, those 
plants most useful to him, the fruits and cereals, 
were introduced. Now, if we look upon the intro- 
duction of plant life, as one great epoch, how per- 
fectly it corresponds with the Bible account. " And 
God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb 
yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after 
his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and 
it was soy 

The word rendered grass, should be rendered 
the tender plant or the budding plant springing up. 
That it was not ordinary grass is apparent, because 
that belongs with seed-bearing plants. The de- 
scription applies well to the early plants that pro- 
duced no proper seeds, the flowerless plants that 
flourished so abundantly till after the coal period. 
We have, then, the creation of plants first. In this 
both records agree. We have the tender plants, the 
seed-bearing plants, and the fruits whose seed is in 
themselves. In this account both records agree. 
We have plants coming to their greatest luxuriance 
in the early age ; so that altogether the great epoch 
which in geology naturally attracts our attention, 
after the raising of the land, is the introduction of 
plant life, and here the two records agree. 

If any say that in the early rocks we have more 
animal than plant fossils, we admit it ; but every 
man who knows anything of geology knows why. 
The early plants were more easily decomposed than 

14 



314 Natttral Theology. 

the corals and shells that remain. But the more 
animal life we find, the more plant life there must 
have been to sus'tain it. 

We come next to the creation of the sun and 
moon. " And God said, Let there be lights in the 
firmament of heaven, to divide the day from the 
night ; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and 
for days, and years. And let them be for light in the 
firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth : 
and it was so" 

It must strike every one as remarkable that 
Moses should give an account of light and the in- 
troduction of plants upon the globe, before describ- 
ing the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, from 
which the earth now receives its light and heat. 
No impostor would have done that. Now, if we 
examine the coal plants in all parts of the world, 
we find them plants of low type, such as grow 
luxuriantly only in the tropics ; a hot, damp atmo- 
sphere being their best locality. These coal plants 
are found in nearly all parts of the earth. There 
are beds of coal in Greenland, where now only a few 
Arctic plants can grow. It is plain that in the coal 
period there was a very high and uniform tempera- 
ture all over the globe ; the heat of the tropics, 
where the Greenland glaciers now rest. This heat 
so distributed could not come from the sun alone, 
but from the earth not yet cool. It was one great 
hot-house ; and consequently the air was constantly 
filled with dense clouds in its upper regions. For 
ages there could have been no clear sky as we now 



Luminaries. 315 

have. The sun existed in some form all the time, 
but it had not taken its place to mark the seasons. 
Its heat was not needed as it is now, if it affected the 
earth at all. Of the necessity of its light, there is 
not the same certainty. The earth still has its own 
sources of light, in the aurora, and in its shooting 
stars which give it scattered sparks of the same 
light as gives the sun its glow. It is reasonable to 
infer that, from the intense action of its forces, the 
earth in its early history had light enough for its 
low type of vegetation. But if not, so far as there 
was light from the sun, it was dim and diffused light 
struggling through the dense vapors ; the sun itself 
probably never appearing. 

But at the close of the coal period, the earth had 
so far cooled, that condensation had probably, in a 
measure, cleared the air ; and now was the time 
when the sun could appear in the heavens ; and the 
cooling earth began to be dependent upon him for 
heat as well as light. And the moon began to give 
borrowed light, and the stars to glitter in the hea- 
vens, where they had been for ages, but not for the 
earth. They all now had their relations established 
and their work appointed for this earth, simply by 
the changes in the earth itself And when they 
were thus ordained, this was their day. And the 
evidence we have that they were thus brought into 
action, at this time, is found in the nature of the 
changes that then occurred, and the higher type of 
life that then appeared. 

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abund- 



3i6 Natural Theology. 

antly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl 
that may fly above the earth in the open firmament 
of Jieavenr 

We now have brought before us the work of the 
fifth day. It was the day of animals in the waters, 
their day, because now in their abundance and 
magnitude they have possession of the earth. It 
is said that God created great whales. The word 
used in the Hebrew is " tanninim," which undoubt- 
edly means huge, devouring monsters, like the croco- 
dile, the animal (tannin) being used as an emblem 
of the destroying kings. (Jer. li. 34.) 

It is a fitting word to denote those saurian mon- 
sters that were the tyrants of the earth in the Meso- 
zoic time. They filled the waters, while huge birds 
and flying reptiles congregated on the shores. 

This day, like the day of the plants, has a mighty 
sweep of time ; but it was after the coal period that 
the huge saurians left their remains in the rocks, 
and reptiles and bird-like monsters left their tracks 
on the sandstone of the Connecticut valley. 

^^And God said, Let the earth bring forth the liv- 
ing creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing 
and beast of the earth after his kind ; and it was 
so." 

Here we have the work of the sixth day. The 
dry land is to have its share of life, which up to 
this time has been confined mainly to the waters. 
And corresponding to this account, we find the 
sixth great epoch of the earth's geologic history to 
be that characterized by the abundance and the size 



Creation of Man. 317 

of the land animals, when the earth fairly trembled 
beneath the tread of the mammoths, the mastodons, 
and the megatheriums. We gather their bones in 
almost all parts of the earth. Look at the huge 
monsters that have been dug up in our own country, 
and in South America. In the far north, their 
tusks supply ivory for exportation. This Tertiary 
and post-Tertiary period, perfectly corresponds to 
the picture of the sixth day's work. It was the day 
of land animals. 

But, before the close of the sixth day, the record 
is : ^^And God said, Let us make man in our image 
after our likeness^ The appearance of man, then, 
according to the Bible, was the closing scene in the 
great drama of creation. 

Now, without entering into the disputed question of 
chronology as to the number of years man has been 
upon the earth, or of the unity of the race, we know 
of no scientific man who does not consider that man 
was the last term in the series, whether he believes 
in development or direct creation. Man is not only 
the last term that has appeared, but he is the last 
term possible, according to the plan of structure 
sketched in the first fish of the Silurian waters. 
We have then the six great epochs completed. If 
there had been in the universe some intelligent be- 
ing like man, before whose eyes the whole scene of 
creation could have passed, the grand pictures that 
would have attracted his attention would have been 
in the order we have described. 

First. The gathering of the elements by the mighty. 



3i8 Natural Theology. 

all-pervading force of gravitation, giving a world of 
light. 

Second. The condensation of the globe and the 
waters upon it, so that the atmosphere should take 
its place as the divider of waters. 

Third. The forming of dry land and the appearance 
of plants, increasing in quantity till they culminated 
in that abundant vegetation that covered the land 
in the coal period, stretching, as it must have 
stretched, from pole to pole, wherever land ap- 
peared. 

Foitrth. The appearance in the heavens of the sun 
and moon and stars, to do their appointed work 
while the world should stand. 

Fifth. The abundance of animal life filling the wa- 
ters. 

Sixth. The sudden increase of life upon the land, 
in animals huge in size and higher in organization 
than any that had before appeared ; and finally, the 
appearance of man, with such powers that he was 
the lord and master of all. 

If, now,* that being had been called upon to give 
an account of the whole scene in the limits of a* 
single chapter, could he have exceeded in accuracy 
and fulness the description given by Moses } We 
have seen a part of the changes produced through 
the operations of natural forces. Moses carries us 
one step further back to Him who holds the forces 
in His hand. 

We feel justified in applying to this grand epic 
of the creation, the substance of the language 



The Seventh Day. 319 

which Humboldt applied to the hundred and fourth 
Psalm. 

We are astonished to find, in a description of such 
limited extent, the whole geological history of the 
earth so accurately sketched by a few bold touches, 

The Mosaic record goes further still, and speaks 
of the day of rest. We have no evidence of new 
creations since man appeared upon the globe. We 
are not told in the Bible that the evening and the 
morning were the seventh day. God rested from 
the works of creation on the seventh day, and we 
have no evidence that that day is completed yet. 
All of the moral relations of this rest and the esta- 
blishment of the Sabbath are foreign to our present 
purpose, which is simply to compare the two records 
so far as they both extend. But when the Bible 
passes on to the moral history of the race, we have 
no positive revelations of nature that enable us to 
continue the comparison. And this work has been 
done so fully by Hugh Miller, whose works are 
known to almost every reader, that nothing would 
be gained by a lengthy discussion. But certainly 
nothing is more natural than that six days should 
stand as representatives of the six great epochs in 
creation, when God appeared only as a Controller of 
matter and the Builder of the universe, and that the 
seventh should stand emblematic of that epoch 
when, creation having ceased, the great manifesta- 
tions of His character were those of the Sustainei^ 
and moral Governor of the universe. 

We have now completed the work which we pro- 



320 Natural Theology. 

posed to do at the commencement of these lectures. 
We might have given our whole time to a single de- 
partment in nature. But we have chosen rather to 
tread various paths, and from all these short excur- 
sions we have returned with the same result. Every 
organic being has been found to be provided for. 
The elements are mingled by weight and measure. 
There is order and harmony everywhere. Man 
finds the world answering to his intellectual and 
emotional nature, and in all its constitution encou- 
raging him in virtue and frowning on his vice. What 
the world does not provide for his moral nature, is 
found in the Bible, which thus takes its place as one 
of the natural provisions for his wants. The moral 
law of the Bible, and the constitution of nature, de- 
mand from him the same course of action. The 
two revelations are one in their teaching, so that 
we close as we commenced, by adopting the senti- 
ment of him who founded this Institute ; that 

" The most certain and most important part of Phi- 
losophy (is) that which shows the connection between 
God's revelations and the knowledge of good and evil 
implanted by Him in our nature — and that there is 
a conformity between Natural Religion and that of 
oi^r Saviour!' 

THE END. 



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